Splintered
by MaeWednesday1967
Summary: AU. Several months after Hawkgirl leaves the JL, an emergency forces her to seek out help from the Flash. Soon, everyone is forced to pull together to help, but how will everyone feel seeing their old friend again? Set after Starcrossed. Tons of pairings - GL/V/HG, FLinda, SM/LL, and BM/WW. Also, it's rated T, but only because I'm a potty mouth. Please leave comments! :)
1. Chapter 1

Central City was quiet this night. Not even the sound of a siren in the distance could rouse the red haired young man sprawled out in his bed on the edge of the city in his 5th floor apartment. He lay on his stomach, clutching a pillow with one arm while his other absently reached for the dark haired woman lying next to him.

The lights from the city's towers leaked into the room through the slits in the blinds, tossing lines across the woman's face and the man's back. Slowly, the man reached further for his companion. Upon touching the side of her pale arm, he unconsciously turned and pulled her close to him. Although she protested slightly at the prospect of being awoken, she sighed contently as his arms encircled her. The perfect moment only lasted a few minutes at most.

A loud trill of a phone filled the apartment, breaking the fragile silence.

The man remained blissfully asleep, but his partner was not so lucky.

"Wally?" the woman whispered as the phone rang again. "Wally!" She shook him slightly.

"Wha?" The man sat up wearily. He ran a hand through his messy hair and huffed as he quickly got up to answer his cell. The woman, content that all would be quiet again soon, rolled back over and closed her eyes. Her breathing almost instantly fell back into the same calm rhythm of sleep.

Wally West stumbled into the living room, looking for where the ringing was coming from. Suddenly, the room went quiet again, only for the ringing to start back up a few seconds later. Picking up his coat, Wally search through the pockets, and upon finding his phone, discovered it to be dark and silent.

Frowning, Wally hurried to his kitchen cupboards, from where he was now sure the sounds were being emitted. Opening one of the cabinets, he reached for the brightly colored lunch box he had stashed long ago in the back corner of the top shelf. His still tired fingers struggled to open the simple clasp keeping the lid fixed to the base, but after a second, the lid was open and a small phone sat in the palm of his hand.

Flipping it open, Wally answered simple, "Flash."

For a second, there wasn't a response, and then he heard, "Please don't hang up."

He froze. The invasion had been only four months before, but no one had seen or heard from Hawkgirl since she had left Wayne manor shortly after the expulsion of the Thanagarians. While Wally had hoped his friend would reach out to him, as the weeks had passed slowly, he soon realized that Shayera wasn't coming back anytime soon.

So, like the others, he had started rebuilding. Central City was lucky to have little damage from the invasion, but many of the other heroes were struggling to put their homes back together. Between monitoring his city, helping the others repair what little they could, and his budding romance with Linda, Wally had been busy. But still, in the moments between missions, when he walked alone exploring the confusing halls of the new Watchtower, Wally's thoughts had often turned to the woman he thought of as a big sister.

Where was she? Was she okay? Was she happy?

Now, was his chance to ask her the million questions in his head. But all he could spit out was, "This phone is for extreme emergencies."

"I know. I know." She sighed, "Wally, I'm in some deep shit."

"What is it?" He leaned against the counter while reaching behind him for a coffee cup.

"It's not something I can discuss except in person. Can you meet me somewhere?"

"Where?"

He could hear the smile through the phone, "I don't suppose you've been back to Brazil lately?"

Wally had to chuckle at that. The last time he and Shayera had been together in the country, they had been surveilling a drug cartel leader who had ties to some major arms dealers. While they were supposed to be focused in Rio, they had ended up in a small town many hours North of the city and had been forced to hide out in the balcony of a Cathedral for several nights. He still remembered how he had to run back to the city for food, knowing that he would stick out like a sore thumb in the small community where they were.

When he had come back an hour later, he had brought several bags of junk food and sandwich supplies, the only foods that sounded good to him. Annoyed as Shayera had been, they had sat up late that night making sandwiches of the strangest combinations they could think up and talking about their homes. It was one of the best times they had together. Wally was almost sad when they finally busted the cartel leader.

"Nope. Guess I should make a trip down there soon. Wouldn't want any drug smugglers feeling too safe, now would I?"

"So you know where to meet me?" She asked to be sure.

"Absolutely. When will you be there?" He absently poured some of the coffee grounds into his coffee maker and pressed the start button.

"Can you be there in the next twelve hours?"

"How about an early dinner? I'll buy." He teased.

She laughed, "I would like that."

There was a pause. Wally frowned and asked, "Shayera, are you okay?"

He heard movement in the background, "I have to go. I'll see you tonight. And Wally, promise me you won't tell anyone about this. Please."

He sighed. The invasion had tested their friendship, but he knew deep down that if she was asking him for help, she really needed him.

"Wally! Please, I need you to promise me." She insisted.

"Fine. I promise."

"Thanks. See you soon."

With that, she hung up. Wally was left staring at the now lifeless phone in his hand, contemplating what it meant that she hadn't answered his question. Feeling torn about not telling anyone he was going to see her. He wanted to tell John.

But that was a whole other can of worms. Now that John had started dating Mari, Wally didn't know if he wanted to tell him and risk getting on Mari's bad side. While Vixen was a great hero, she was kind of a possessive girlfriend. Then again, if he was seen as the round bound, Wally was sure he would be possessive too.

Wally sighed and checked his watch. It was almost 4:00 in the morning, but he could be in Brazil in a short time if he asked Wonder Woman to drop him off from the Javelin. Deciding he would ask her in the morning, Wally started back towards the bedroom. He would just leave the coffee running until the morning; he had to be up early anyway.

Crawling back into bed, he wrapped an arm around Linda and pressed a kiss to her temple. In her sleep, she smiled and snuggled up against him.

He looked at her for a few moments, considering how much his life had changed recently. His desire to tell Shayera about everything was so strong, he thought he could burst. She was the closest thing he had to a sister and, he decided, one way or another, she wasn't going to ignore him again.


	2. Chapter 2

Wally West made his way North of Rio de Janeiro, where he had Diana drop him off. Luckily, she was in a hurry to get somewhere so she hadn't asked any uncomfortable questions about where he was going, who he was meeting, or what was so important in Brazil. He had a lie prepared for her, but deception was not his strong suit, and he was sure that she would have seen through him in a second.

Lying to John had been even harder. Flash had been up to the Watchtower earlier to talk to Batman about trading monitor duties to get the afternoon off, and he had run into the Lantern in the hall. Although busy, John had asked, "Hey, kid. How's it going?"

Almost automatically he had asked, "How's what going?"

Now that stopped John. He knew when the Flash was trying to hide something from him, and right now was one of those times.

"Is something going on?" John asked with crossed arms.

"Nothing," Wally squeaked out, "It's just a regular day. I'm meeting Diana for lunch, and then I have to get back to Central City. You know how the whole hero gig goes."

"I do," John nodded, but still didn't relax, "And nothing's going on that's out of the ordinary?"

"Nothing…" Wally trailed off, "John, it's just that-"

Luckily, at that moment, Mari had decided to make her entrance. She walked around the corner in her signature catsuit, looking as amazing as ever. Her heels were clicking noisily on the floor as she called out, "Hey, darling! How's it going?"

She easily laced one of her arms through John's and grinned at him. John hesitantly returned the smile and responded, "Good, how is your day going."

"Good." Mari looked over to Flash, "Sorry, did I interrupt your boys' conversation?"

"Not as all." Flash smiled. Mari was the perfect escape opportunity, "GL and I were just talking about the new French restaurant that opened up in Central City. It's great, and the food is way more authentic than anything near his place. You guys should stop by sometime and give it a try!"

"Oh!" Mari's eyes lit up, "Honey, that's a great idea. You know I love French food."

"Uh," John shrugged, "I guess we'll have to stop by sometime."

"Great!" Flash smiled and turned to continue down the corridor, "Listen, I've got to get going, but I'll talk to you about it soon!"

"Thanks, Flash!" Mari called as she pulled John in the opposite direction. John had a frown on his face, knowing that he had probably been bamboozled, but now he was distracted by Mari's discussion of dinner dates. Flash knew that John would probably dismiss it as another shenanigan in progress and forget about it by the end of the day.

Seeing he was running behind schedule, Flash sped up a little. He carried a bag with him full of sandwich materials, something he hoped that Shayera would get a laugh out of. She had sounded so tired when she talked to him, he knew she needed him to cheer her up. After all, that's what family's for. He had to smirk at that one. Shayera was right, he was a determined little shit.

He slowed down as he saw the church coming up and allowed himself to whip through the entryway to the stand before the sanctuary doors. Taking a deep breathe, he opened the door to see the worship area.

It took his eyes a second to adjust to the dimly lit room. Only candles provided illumination for the chamber, giving it a haunted atmosphere. It took him a moment to locate her as she was sitting in one of the pews towards the front of the chamber. He could only see her red hair peeking out over the black shawl she wore around her shoulders, which hid her wings.

Quietly, he walked down the center of the aisle towards her. Even so, she heard his deliberately slowly footsteps and stood up as she turned to look at him. That was when Wally got his first good look at her. Her shawl was actually a long black cloak that fell to the floor with a crest just below her neck engraved with a hawk. Her long scarlet hair hung around her face, which was thinner and paler than the last time he had seen her. Still, her green eyes shimmered with determination like always.

"Shayera." He smiled, but stood a few feet away.

"Wally." She returned his smile, "Thank you for coming."

"You don't have to thank me, Shay. I've always got your back."

She looked saddened for a second, "I know. You've always had the biggest heart."

There was a moment of silence.

Wally cleared his throat and asked, "Do you want to make some sandwiches before you tell me what's going on."

She laughed, "Yes, but first I need tell you something." She looked nervous.

Wally walked past her to the front of the room where the pews stopped and an open area existed. He put his bag on the floor and started to take out the picnic blanket he had brought along, "Okay, but you might feel better telling me over food."

"No. I need to tell you this first."

He turned at her solemn voice and frowned, "Is this serious?"

"Yes." She looked down and took a deep breath. He turned to face her once again and left setting up for later.

She looked up again, "I need you to swear to me that you won't tell anyone what I tell you. No matter how much you might want to, or feel that you need to, you have to promise me you won't tell."

"Absolutely." He promised without a second thought.

"Okay. And you have to swear you'll still be my friend, even if you don't like me very much."

That made him laugh, "Of course I'll be your friend."

He covered the three steps that separated them in less than a second and put his arms around her. He had missed her so much and was hopelessly happy to have her back where she belonged. It took her a second to relax into his embrace, but after a moment, her arms slipped around his waist and she laid her head against his shoulder. But as she leaned into him, he felt something push against his hip.

In surprise, Wally jump back to look at Shayera's terrified face.

"Wally, don't freak out." She held her hands up like a criminal turning herself in, which was about how she felt at that moment. Slowly, she reached up to unhook her cloak, which she sat on the pew next to her. Underneath, she was dressed in a navy blue dress which clung to her figure. And her rapidly expanding stomach.

Wally's eyes flash to her midsection and back to her face. Obviously needing her to say the words, she sighed and managed to choke out, "Wally, I'm pregnant."

He shakily managed to ask, "...John?"

She nodded. Then she weakly smiled and asked, "Will you still make me that sandwich?"


	3. Chapter 3

"Mmh. Is this turkey?" Shayera asked.

Wally was still dumbfounded. However, Shayera had managed to move him to a sitting position on the blanket which she had rather awkwardly laid out across the floor. He hadn't spoken yet, and it wasn't looking like that would be changing very soon, so she had decided that it was time to put something in her very hungry stomach. She couldn't tell what emotion he was feeling. Anger? That would be justified. Worry? Carrying a half-human, half-Thanagarian child wasn't the safest thing she could have done. Betrayal? She had just put him in yet another tense position where he couldn't tell his best friend something Wally knew John would want to know. Until he spoke, her thinking about it wouldn't change the outcome, so she might as well keep making her dinner.

As she was spreading the mayonnaise on her sandwich, Wally finally spoke, "Was this the deep shit you were talking about?"

She froze mid-motion. The maternal instinct in her advocated violence for calling her baby "deep shit" but the logic in her won out. After a second, she finished using the knife and stuck it back in the jar, "No, it's not."

"Then tell me." He said solemnly. Shayera looked at his face. His jaw was clenched and she could tell that although he was trying to keep a blank face, he was mad. So anger it was.

"Someone's after me." She said bluntly.

That took him aback. Confusion colored his face and he asked, "Why would you think that?"

"Believe it or not, after my time in the Thanagarian Army, I know when someone's trying to kill me." She took a piece of bread and put it on top of her sandwich, but made no move to eat it. "After I left Wayne Manor, I needed some time to figure things out. I had several emergency houses prepared from my first year on Earth. In training, I was always taught to have locations ready in case I needed to disappear for a while. Anyway, I had a cabin in Alaska that I thought would work for a couple of months.

"Within two weeks, someone tried to shoot my head off with an arrow. It was pure luck that whoever shot it missed, but then I realized I would have to go off the grid. Someone's been tracking me ever since. Whoever it is hasn't gotten that close to me since, but I've had a couple of close calls. Turns out, whoever it is doesn't work alone. Anyway, dodging them was easier when I could fight my way out of places and fly evasive maneuvers, but now…" She laid one hand tenderly against her stomach, "...obviously that's not an option I can do right now."

"Why the hell didn't you call us earlier?" Flash yelled suddenly.

Shayera raised her eyebrows. Wally had gotten angry before, but his eyes held genuine rage. She bit out, "Hasn't really been an option yet! I've barely been staying out of sight, let alone had access to a phone I was sure wasn't tapped."

He seemed to calm down a little at that statement, "Okay, that's an understandable point."

She relaxed a little, knowing that Wally didn't totally blame her for the situation, "The last thing I wanted to do was lead whoever was after me to one of you guys. Luckily, we both know certain individuals in this area who have burner phones a plenty. I've been biding my time, trying to lead the chase here. It took the good part of the last two months for everything to fall into place for this meeting."

She winced a little and pressed a hand to her stomach. Suddenly, Wally was leaning over her with concern written all over his face. "Shay, what's wrong."

"Nothing. Just a kick to my internal organs. This baby hates me already." She joked.

Wally sat down next to her, closer than before. He picked up her plate and pushed it into her hands, "Eat this now."

"Happy to oblige." She muttered before taking a bite out of the thick sandwich she had made. And goodness, did it taste good. She closed her eyes in bliss, trying to remember the last time she had such a good meal. Considering most of her diet lately consisted of breads and whatever she could hunt, it had been a long while.

"Shayera, you are way too thin." Flash observed, "When was the last time you saw a doctor?"

"What good is a human doctor going to do me? My little genetic concoction is in a category all its own. No human is going to know what to do with me. Even if I were to go, I would be a huge danger to everyone around me. Forget the fact that I have several arrest warrants out there." She reached for the chocolate milk peaking out from Wally's bag. Opening the bottle, she made eye contact with her friend and muttered, "You're a god right now."

"Listen, we've got to get you somewhere safe. Let me take you back to the Watchtower."

"No!" Shayera practically spit out her drink, "The Justice League housing one of the most hated criminals in the world? You'll all be put on the list of outlaws with me by the end of the day."

"Well, you're not going back out there!" He insisted.

"Yes, I am." Shayera countered.

"No. You're not." Wally glared at her.

"Look, I just need someone to help me shake the people following me." She sighed, hating to admit it but, "And on my list of people I trust, you are at the top. I know I don't deserve it after everything I've done. I don't blame you if you don't want to help me, but please. Just help me get out of here."

Wally stood up and threw his hands in the air, "If you think I would just pick you up, drop you off in the middle of nowhere and abandon you, you don't have any idea who I am."

Shayera looked up at him with sad eyes and said, "Alright. Then I have to get going."

Flash shook his head and started pacing, "No, Shay. Of course I'm going to help you. But we're not going with your messed up plan."

She watched him walking back and forth. His eyes seemed focused on an idea she could see he was forming in his mind. "Well, what's your proposal then?"

He stopped abruptly, "We don't go to the Watchtower. At least, not right away. But I until we figure out who's after you, you're not staying alone."

"Where are we going then?" She asked sarcastically.

"To the best detective we know." Wally grinned.

Shayera froze, "No. There is no way in hell he's going to help me."

"Oh, you might be surprised by what I can make happen." Wally laughed. He sat down next to Shayera again. "Listen, I can get you to a safe house tonight. Give me 24 hours to try to convince Bruce to help you out, and if I can't, we'll reevaluate then."

Shayera met his gaze, and Wally could read the doubt in her eyes, "You really think that this will work?"

"You need to have a little more faith, Wings." He smiled.

"You need to be a little more realistic, Legs." She grinned back.

He sighed, "When will you realize that with a face this pretty, being realistic is unnecessary."

"Good to see you still haven't found a single thing that can put a dent in your ego."


	4. Chapter 4

Wally West loved the Wayne Manor. He knew that probably surprised most people. It was an exceedingly dark and haunting place, further embellished by Batman's personal taste, which was far removed from Wally's happy and carefree personality.

Still, he loved the mysteriousness of the place. The house was full of secret passages, hidden nooks, hiding places no one would ever think of except for one slightly insane billionaire. Wally would expect nothing less from Bruce. Of course, Wally took his time to explore the Wayne estate every time he visited, except for the rare instance that he was in a hurry. Which he was today. Even so, just being around the place made him smile just a little bit wider.

Wally rushed up the steps of the mansion and rang the doorbell. He tapped his foot impatiently while he waited for Alfred to answer the door. The moment the butler opened the door a crack, the Flash rushed past him while shouting, "Sorry, Alfred!" He was sure it was fine, Alfred was used to the occurrence at this point.

Hurrying up to the second floor living room, Wally started to slow down. He walked carefully to the master bedroom, where he figured Bruce was relaxing this morning. Waltzing in like he usually did, which always annoyed the shit out of Batman, Wally called out, "Work time, old ma- Shit!"

When he opened the door, he was greeted to the unexpected surprise of Wonder Woman lying in bed, clutching a sheet to herself.

"Wally!" The dark haired beauty's eyes flew wide open and her jaw dropped in horror.

"I'm out!" He called as he flew out of the door and back to the living room as fast as he could run. Which was pretty fast.

Quietly, he sat himself on one of Bruce's obscenely expensive arm chairs, slightly in shock. It took him several moments to get his thoughts together.

Wow, Batman and Wonder Woman. Not a huge shocker, even Wally noticed Diana's flirtatiousness and Bruce's protective attitude towards the Amazonian, but Wally hadn't known they even had more than the dozen or so conversations he had caught them having between monitor duties. Looked like he owned John twenty dollars.

After a few minutes, Bruce walked out of his room in a robe and leaned against the wall, glaring at the Flash. "Well, well. Look who managed to make it to adulthood without learning his manners."

"Accident. Totally my fault. Won't happen again." Wally held up his hands defensively.

"You won't tell anyone what you did or did not see in there. Understood?" The threatening aura oozing off the man was utterly terrifying.

"Absolutely."

"Good." Bruce turned to leave.

"I had a reason for barging in you know." Flash called.

Bruce turned around, "Fine. Do tell."

Flash shook his head, "Not here." He pointed downstairs towards the Batcave.

"League business?" Bruce asked.

"Sort of."

He sighed dramatically, "I'll be down there in ten minutes. You know the way."

Exactly ten minutes later, Batman appeared on the steps leading down to the Batcave in full uniform. Flash was sitting on his chair in front of Bruce's arrangement of monitors mindlessly tossing a stress ball in the air and catching it. Really, it was ironic that the Bat even bothered with such an item.

"So, you and Diana, huh?" Flash smiled.

"That's my chair." Batman said deeply. His face was molded into one of the most petrifying expressions Wally had ever seen.

The Flash stood up without question, not wanting to get on the Bat's bad side further than he already was. Still tossing the ball in the air, Wally went to lean against the control panel to his left. Bruce sat down and turned to the computer, checking on some of his programs while asking, "What's so important that you felt the need to barge in?"

Wally caught the ball and dropped it where he had found it. "It's about Hawkgirl."

Batman froze for a second before he continued typing, "What about her?"

"She's in trouble. Someone's trying to kill her."

Bruce's face showed no change of emotion, although it was always hard to read him with his mask on. Barely missing a beat, he replied, "Hawkgirl can handle herself."

"Not this time. I got a call last night, and she sounded pretty desperate. Then, I went to see her today, and she's really in a lot of trouble. Whoever's after her means business."

"Then why isn't she here herself?"

"When I talked to her, she just wanted me to help her shake her tail. I mentioned coming to you, but she didn't think you would help. But Bats, I'm telling you that she's pissed off enough people badly enough that if we don't find out who's trying to kill her, they're going to keep coming after her."

"Where is she now?" Bruce finally turned to face Flash.

"I used some of my connections to get her to an apartment a couple of hours from here. It belongs to a friend who isn't using it right now, but she can't stay there for more than a couple of days."

"It won't take me that long to figure out who's after her, I can assure you. I'll let you know when I find out his identity and we'll take care of it. Have her send over any information she has on him." Bruce turned towards the computer again.

"There's another problem." Wally shifted nervously on his feet. Shayera didn't want Bruce to know, but Wally knew she needed some type of medical assistance. "Shay needs J'onn to take a look at her."

Batman frowned, "She's been injured?"

Wally decided that it wasn't lying if he allowed his friend to draw his own conclusions. "She needs J'onn, but no one else can know we're helping her."

Bruce smiled, "She made you swear, didn't she?"

Wally grinned, "You know how she is. And I wouldn't put it past her to actually break my legs."

"If she can make it here, J'onn could look at her tonight. I have enough medical equipment in the Cave, he shouldn't have to bring anything. She can stay for a few nights in one of the rooms upstairs if she needs." Bruce nodded towards the upstairs.

Wally teased, "What about your house guest?"

"I've been meaning to spend more time at the Watchtower anyways. We'll stay at her place for a couple of nights." Bruce glared at him, "I won't tell anyone about Hawkgirl as long as I don't hear a peep about Diana."

"Can do, my friend. Can do. I'll go pick up Shayera then." Flash moved to go. "Thanks for understanding, Bruce."

Bruce swirled in his chair to face the exiting hero, "We're the only two who don't hold grudges against her, you know."

Wally frowned. Bruce continued, "John hasn't talked about her in weeks unless someone else has brought her up. Even then, you can tell even the thought of her gives him chills. J'onn doesn't hate her, but she's certainly part of the reason he feels like a failure since the invasion. He knows that he should have caught onto what was happening, but he didn't. Clark avoids everything related to her. And of course, Diana has been very vocal about how she feels."

Wally nodded and started towards the exit again, "They need to get over themselves."

Bruce stood, "Wait." When Flash did, he didn't turn back again. Bruce kept speaking, "What I'm saying is that I'll do what I can, but I would rather this not go any further than us. Are you sure her injury is bad enough that J'onn needs to look at it."

After thinking about it for a minute, the Flash decided that Hawkgirl would be better suited to doing the explaining on that front. Wally cleared his throat, "Don't call J'onn yet. Talk to her yourself, and then you tell me what you think."


	5. Chapter 5

Shayera hated the apartment more than she hated any of the places she had been in the last four months. Granted, there were several perks. Running water, for example, was one thing that had only been available in a few places. After Wally had left, Shayera had stood under the shower for nearly an hour, letting the warm water relax some of the knots beginning to form in her bad. And the feeling of her hair being both dirt free and freshly conditioned was fabulous. The food was also rather incredible. Wally had ordered her takeout from a local Asian restaurant, and it was divine. There was still some waiting in the fridge for her to eat later, which she was really looking forward too. Food on the run definitely hadn't been this good. Not to mention how thankful she was for the bed.

But the apartment, no matter how warm and comfortable it was, was driving her mad. It had already been several weeks since she had been able to fly, and now she could look out the window and see the beautiful city outside. On this day, the sun was shining and she swore the sky was this most beautiful hue of blue she had ever seen. On top of that, everything outside just seemed so full of life. While she wasn't usually a city person, she had many memories of zooming through streets in the pursuit of criminals and relaxing on rooftops watching the sunrise that she was dying to go outside. Plus, she could hear people. Being on the run had put a pretty big dent in her social life. Now, while sitting on the couch, she could hear a couple upstairs returning from work and greeting each other warmly. Outside, the hustle and bustle of daily life was pulling her to go outside. Though she knew it was a bad idea to do so, the desire to go join the world was strong.

Yes, the apartment was nice, but it was driving her crazy.

For the millionth time, Shayera let her mind wander to whether or not she was doing the right thing in dragging Bruce and Wally into her mess. She was the one who had almost let the Thanagarians destroy the Earth, and while she had remained loyal to her friends eventually, it didn't make up for the huge amounts of destruction caused at the hands of her people.

She sighed and sat down, placing both of her hands over her bump. Tapping gently at her stomach, her thoughts began trailing down a different path.

It had only been a little over two months since she found out. She probably would have realized sooner if she hadn't been so focused on staying alive. It hadn't really sunk in that she was having a baby. There had been no time to sit down and really consider the logistics of everything. Even now, she could barely believe that she would be a mother this winter.

Her child choose that moment to kick. Rubbing the spot gently with her palm, she took a deep breathe as the same intense, overwhelming feeling of panic that she always got thinking about motherhood washed over her. Thanagar wasn't exactly a nurturing place. Her childhood had been taken up with training, schooling, and fights amongst the other children in her academy, not lullabies and cuddles. John would want better for their child than what she had.

That brought up another point. The thought of telling John was almost scarier than having a child. Almost.

The last time she had seen the man she loved had been that day at the Wayne estate. She had flown away, leaving him with her declaration of love, and he had just let her go. To be honest, she understood why he hadn't come after her, but it hurt nonetheless. Now, she had to explain to him her pregnancy, which he probably wouldn't take well. Another thing to add to the pile that already including Hro, the almost destruction of Earth, and her resignation from the League. No, she didn't look forward to this talk at all.

Some days it really did feel like the world was crashing down around her.

Still, terrified as she was, the thought of holding her child in her arms so soon…it secretly made her a little excited.

At that moment, the door began to jingle.

Shayera's heart stopped. Wally had thought this place was safe, but she had expressed her reservations. Automatically, she reached for her mace and stood up.

She looked around her, considering whether to stay and fight or to flee. While the apartment wasn't that far off the ground, her ability to fly wasn't very graceful right now. Plus, fighting on the street would put her at a distinct disadvantage. She preferred hand to hand combat anyway. So, she would be staying then.

Slowly, she made her way to the center of the room, waiting for what was to come. She gripped her weapon in one hand, and prepared herself to take the first swing.

After hearing the chirp of keys hitting one another, the door slowly opened, and a short woman with long dark hair appeared carrying several large sacks. She was struggling to get her keys out of the door and not drop any of the things she carried with her. Confused, Shayera held her ground.

Yanking her keys out of the knob, the small woman finally looked up at her and smiled, "You must be Shayera. Just give me a sec."

The women kicked the door shut with her foot and made her way over to the counter to drop off the bags she had been grasping. Her hair was pulled into a messy ponytail and her glasses had started to slide down her nose from her lack of free hands. "I know Wally said that whatever was in the fridge would be enough, but I know Lesley is horrible about keeping food in stock. Plus, in your condition, you must be starving."

"Who are you?" Shayera asked in awe.

Linda looked surprised, "Oh my gosh. Sorry! I wasn't even thinking. Linda Park."

The woman held out her hand. Finally, Shayera got to examine the woman. Her long hair was as black as a stormy night, with streaks of midnight blue shining through, and her eyes were a warm chocolate brown. While Hawkgirl usually dwarfed others, this woman was shorter than even she was. Still, her happiness seemed to fill the room.

Shayera suddenly understood that this must be the Linda Wally had talked about so affectionately. She grasped the stranger's hand firmly and introduced herself, "Shayera Hol."

"Wally's told me a lot about you." She move back to the kitchen to start unpacking the food. Shayera was in awe of the ice cream, chicken, fresh fruit, and frozen dinners the young woman pulled out of her bags. Eying Shayera's weapon, which was still held tightly in her other hand, Linda asked, "You don't mind putting that thing away, do you?"

Deciding the woman wasn't a threat, Shayera laid it gently on the coffee table in front of the couch. Relaxing a little, Linda continued, "I didn't know what you would like so I just grabbed a little bit of everything. Wally told me not to bother you too much, but I had the keys and I thought, hey, why not?"

"Whose apartment is this?"

Linda laughed, "My sister's. Her and her husband are having a baby in a couple of weeks, so he thought he would take her for a short vacation before their time is consumed with diaper changes and midnight feedings."

"I see." Shayera frowned. It must be nice to have someone so worried about your happiness.

Linda must have noticed because she got quiet for a second. She put some of the frozen goods into the freezer and then pulled another jar out of the bags, "Would you like some peanut butter."

Shayera's mouth started to water, "Thanks."

"Any time. Especially for a friend of Wally's." The woman grinned.

Even as she stuck the spoon full of heaven into her mouth, Shayera muttered, "I'm not sure if I'm still in the friend category."

This earned her a giggle from Linda, "Oh, you most certainly are. The way Wally talks about you, you're practically family. And any family of Wally's is going to get the best possible treatment during their stay at a Park family apartment."

That made Shayera smile. At least there was one person she didn't have to worry about hating her anymore. And if she counted Linda, that number doubled.


	6. Chapter 6

"And then _he_ got knocked out?" Linda laughed.

Shayera's hearty laughter played over Linda's delicate one, "It wasn't his fault. He was so distracted fighting the Tamaran, he barely even saw the chair flying through the air! I ducked, and he didn't have a chance!"

The two women had spent the morning together, and Shayera was happy that Wally had chosen someone so sweet. Linda was so genuinely kind and had a slightly twisted sense of humor that matched her's. Now, the two of them were sitting together on the couch with Linda sipping on a glass of red wine and Shayera cupping a mug of hot cocoa.

The latter was bundled up in a fluffy robe that Linda had been so kind as to get as Shayera's dress had been rather battered and dirty. Unfortunately, it seemed beyond repair, so Linda had picked up a few comfortable maternity outfits alongside the robe. Then, she had carefully cut slits in the back of each top so that Shayera could easily slip them on over her wings without feeling constrained. It hadn't been since before the invasion that she had such agreeable clothes.

Just then, there came a knock at the door. Both women's heads snapped in the direction of the sound before Linda turned back to her comrade and placed one finger over her lips in a sign of silence. Emitting as much calmness as she could, Linda called, "Who is it?"

There was a short pause and then, "Damn it, Linda! I told you not to bother her!"

Sighing in relief, Linda stood up and walked over to open the door, glass of wine still in hand. Wally West, finally changing into a t-shirt and jeans after having been in uniform for most of the last 24 hours, stood on the other side. Taking a quick glance at his beautiful girlfriend, he glanced down to the drink in her hand and asked, "At 2:30 in the afternoon on a Wednesday?"

Linda smirked, "With a boyfriend like you, my sanity needs all the help it can get."

She walked back into the kitchen and grabbed another wine glass from the cabinet. Wally shut the door, and after noticing her pouring a second drink, said, "Thanks, babe, but I can't stay. Shay and I got a date with the keeper of the underworld himself."

"Who said any of this was for you." Linda sassed back. Taking the two wine glasses, one full and one half gone, she strolled back over the couch, sat down, and continued her conversation with Shayera like nothing had changed, "It's good to know that if nothing else, you're child is genetically inclined to have a thick skull."

"Let's not ponder over all the potentials of my child's genetics." Shayera frowned. Without thinking, one of her hands reached up to start rubbing circles on the side of her stomach.

Noticing, Linda reached out and took ahold of her hand. She looked at her seriously and said, "Just remember, that if you ever need a place to stay…" She grinned and continued, "...Wally snores and I think that you and the baby would make much better roommates."

Shayera had to laugh at that statement. Meanwhile, Wally indignantly yelled, "Hey!"

With a squeeze, Shayera let go of Linda's hand and slowly stood up. Wally started towards her to help, but she held up one hand to let her struggle. She wasn't about to be dependent on anyone in order to just stand up.

Once she was completely vertical, Shayera walked towards the kitchen to drop off her now empty mug. "Alright, I better get all of my stuff together. You know how Wally gets."

Linda rolled her eyes, "Do I ever."

Wally threw up his hands, "What is this? Everyone hates on Wally Day?"

Linda giggled, "Oh, honey. I don't need a day to make fun of you."

Shayera smiled at how playful the two of them could be. As she moved into the bedroom of Linda's sister, where the two women had laid out all of her clothes on the bed, Shayera noticed from the corner of her eye that Wally had sat down on the couch next to Linda so their knees were touching and she could lay her head on his shoulder. They needed a few minutes together after all the running around Wally had been doing trying to keep Shayera safe.

Picking up each item carefully, Shayera moved them into one of the bags Linda had offered her. While the clothes weren't typically her style, Linda had chosen well. Mostly greens and blues like she preferred, but with a few purples and reds thrown in to force her to try something new. She chose a pair of jeans and a green sweater to wear instead of the robe and put the soft material on top of the other things in her bag. Tears prickled her eyes a little bit as she thought about how kind Linda had been after only just meeting her.

Quickly, she wiped her eyes. Stupid pregnancy hormones. Shayera Hol didn't cry, she hit people and made things happen.

Tapping her stomach none too softly, she muttered, "Don't expect me to be this soft when this is over."

Walking out of the bedroom, now fully packed, Shayera called, "Okay, Wally. Time to hit the road."

Wally whispered something too quietly for her to understand, kissed Linda quickly, and then became a blur of colors. Not even a full second later, the Flash stood in full uniform in the middle of the living room. He walked towards the door as well and called, "I love you, babe"

"Love you too!" Linda called as he closed the door.

Wally decided that although it was going to be a long trip, it would be best to drive to Gotham. They had managed to slip out of Lesley's apartment building unseen, and Linda had promised to clean up after them. Several hours later, the pair arrived at the Wayne Manor, Shayera already wrapped back in her Thanagarian cloak. The Flash had to give it to her, even though he could tell she hadn't felt well the whole way up there, she hadn't complained except to ask him to get some crackers when he had stopped for gas. He kept telling her they could take a break, pull over somewhere rural, and she could stretch her legs or go to the bathroom, but she always repeated that she was fine. Eventually, he had gotten on her last nerve, and she had punched him on his arm hard enough he was pretty sure it was bruised.

He was so surprised, he had yelped, "Hey!"

She just responded with, "Don't mention stopping one more time or you'll have to explain to Linda why you can no longer reproduce."

By the time they had parked behind the mansion and Shayera had pulled out her bag, insisting on carrying it. Wally tried to grab it from her, but she had sent him a glare that stopped him in his tracks and said, "Try it, and you'll find out whether or not your body can digest your own teeth." After that, he had backed off a little bit.

She had marched up to the house confidently and opened the door without knocking. Looked like some things would never change. Wally hurried up a little to keep up with her, noticing that she had tossed her duffel on one of Bruce's tables and was proceeding down to the Batcave.

"Shay!" He called.

"What?" She called back sarcastically, "It's not like he isn't expecting us."

He huffed. He knew her relative politeness could only last so long.

Following her to the base of the stairs that descended into the heart of the Bat's lair, he could see that Bruce was already seated by the monitors, searching through the information that the Flash had sent him on his drive over. He noticed Bruce had set aside a table with a small number of medical instruments on it, and frowned, wondering what Hawkgirl was going to say to the Bat about her pregnancy. He had tried to talk to Shayera about it on the way over, but she had insisted that she would handle it. She was never one to have someone tell her how to do things.

Although both Shayera and Wally knew that Bruce had heard them approaching, the darkly dressed man waited until Shayera had made it to the bottom of the stairs to stand and face her. He didn't smile, but merely crossed his arms over his chest and kept a neutral expression. That was generally the closest he got to a welcoming greeting.

"Bruce." Shayera said tersely.

"Shayera." He responded in a similar tone.

Taking a deep breath, she glanced around and said, "Thank you for letting me come here. I know the last time wasn't under good circumstances."

He shrugged, "Nonetheless, leaving an old friend to the harmful intentions of others is hardly my style, don't you think?"

Shayera composed her face into a tight smiled, "You haven't told anyone else have you?"

"Not a soul."

"Good." Now Shayera's smile wavered, "Can you promise me you'll keep it that way. At least until I have the chance to talk to John about a couple of things?

Bruce sat down again, clearing resigned to having to bring Shayera back to reality himself, "He might not want to talk to you. It's been months, Hawkgirl, and while Wally and I know that returning wouldn't have been easy for you, he doesn't know what we do. He's moved on by now-"

"Bruce." Shayera had an impatient gleam in her emerald eyes, "Just give me the benefit of the doubt for a minute."

"Fine." He tapped his fingers against the expensive leather of his armrests.

"Promise me that you won't tell anyone I'm here, at least for this little while."

"Fine." He repeated with a sigh. "Not that anyone is likely to ask."

Her shoulders slumped in obvious relief. However, there was still one more bridge to cross. "Good. Now about that medical treatment Wally talked to you about."

Bruce rolled his eyes, "Considering you didn't mention it immediately, I'm sure the decision not to call J'onn was the right one. Just another of Wally's numerous overreactions?"

Not even bothering to comment, Wally smirked as Shayera defended him, "He wasn't. Overreacting, that is. Although he's been an overprotective fool lately. What he was trying to do was explain to you the situation I'm in." She reached up to unhook the long swathes of fabric from around her shoulders.

Bruce's face fell as he guessed what she was about to do. Still, the barest bit of hope in him forced him to ask, "And what would that be?"

She pulled back her cloak to reveal her tight to, which did little to hide the size of her midsection, obviously swollen from her pregnancy. Without much thought, she spread one hand across her abdomen. There was a long silence, and then, realizing she was staring down at the evidence of her child, her eyes rose to met the accusing stare from Bruce Wayne.

"I know this isn't a burden I have any right to ask you to share with me. And I promise that I won't force you to do this for long, but," She sighed and looked back down at her bump. Intense regret swelled up in her chest as she thought of the still oblivious father of her child. Even if he was mad and her, and even if Shayera had done some horrible things, John still had a right to know that he was going to be a father, although much sooner than he currently knew. She looked up again and said a little breathlessly, "I owe John better than a letter or to be informed second hand. I need to be the one to tell him."

"Fine." Bruce spit out. The rage building up inside him made him realize he needed to get out of there before he hit someone. Since Shayera was out, that only left the kid who couldn't be blamed for his ignorance of reason. "We'll talk about this more later."

He stalked past her to the stairs, hurrying up them without quite rushing. Shayera knew this attitude well, angry but still too cool to be seen making much of an effort. Reaching the exit only a few moments later, he muttered, "Make yourself at home. It seems that you'll be here until further notice. We'll talk about your situation after you've slept."

And with that, he was gone.

Wally, who at this point had been lounging against the glass cases the Bat kept his various uniforms in, decided to speak up. "Well, for Bruce, you can't ask for too much better."

Shayera growled, "I know."

Waltzing over to sling an arm around his friend's shoulder, Wally smiled and said, "Let's go grab out rooms. I call the blue room!" He was at the top of the stairs in the blink of an eye.

Sighing once again before she started the trek up the stone steps, Wally could hear her muttering under her breath, "Show-off."


	7. Chapter 7

It was almost one in the morning, and Shayera couldn't sleep. She wasn't sure at this point if it was the pressing need to pee or the strong craving she had for ice cream. Either way, she knew she would eventually have to get up. Still, she had been laying on top of the dozen pillows on her bed for the last twenty minutes because she just didn't want to. These pillows were allowing her to lay on her stomach for the first time in months, and her wings were enjoying every second of laying the way they were used to. The cramp in her back had _almost_ started to ease up. It was truly glorious.

Wally had chosen his favorite room, which had a spectacular view of Gotham, and she had picked the one directly across from him. It was an interior room that was colored beige with gold accents that gave a feeling of openness while still not having windows. After all the times of being shot at, the idea of having a room with a window was a little unsettling right now. Shayera preferred to be isolated a little, giving her at least a few extra seconds of reaction time in case something happened. Plus, the amazingly comfortable bed and en suite bathroom weren't a bad draw either.

Finally, she knew she was going to have to get up. Deciding her bladder took first priority since the baby wasn't going to stop lying on it anytime soon, she stood up, pulling the large t-shirt Wally had given her down a little bit. Luckily, he was tall enough that the grey shirt hung to just above her knees, but still pulled a little tightly around her stomach, which she didn't appreciate. She huffed to herself as she decided she was just going to have to get used to feeling fat.

After using the bathroom, Shayera staggered out of her room and headed downstairs. The only thing that sounded like it would make anything better at that moment was ice cream. Luckily, she knew that Bruce always kept some in his freezer, and the chocolate marshmallow blend sounded divine.

Like everything in his house, the Batman's kitchen was state of the art. It was painted a pale green with dark marble countertops. His appliances were all new and looked barely used to her. The island in the middle of the room had a bar with several stools along with bowls of basic foods, such as apples, biscuits, grapes, and other health items. Walking past the food she knew she should be eating, Shayera pulled open the freezer underneath the fridge and started sorting through the foods there. She pulled out several items and set them on the counter as she reached further down until she got to the ice cream. Bruce was such a healthy eater that it didn't surprise her that the sweets were buried at the bottom.

She grabbed the chocolate marshmallow ice cream, and then noticed what was underneath it. Interesting.

Shayera reached for the drawer next to the fridge and pulled out a spoon. Not bothering to get a bowl, she tossed the ice cream lid on the counter and began eating her snack while she went to find Bruce.

His heartbeat sounded like a roaring in his ears, and his arms shook a little as they struggled to lift the heavy weights high in the air once again. The dark knight laid on his workout bench in the gym on the main floor of his home. Though he had already been there several hours, he still had things to work out before he could stand going upstairs to his room and taking a shower.

Yet again, he lowered the weights to touch his chest and pushed them up slowly. Sucking in a breathe, he prepared to lower the weights once more when he heard a voice call, "Why am I not surprised?"

Setting the weights on the bars above him, Bruce sat up and took a look at Shayera. She was wearing an old t-shirt with holes cut into it to accommodate her wings. In one of her hands was a spoon and in the other, an entire carton of chocolate ice cream. Looking once again at her baby bump, he got up to begin the hand held weights. Picking up the heaviest ones, he continued exercising and returned with, "What are you doing up?"

Pointing to her stomach with utensil, she joked, "He's demanding."

Bruce froze, "It's a boy?"

Chuckling, Shayera shrugged, "Not sure. Got tired of calling him an it, though. Figured I have a 50% shot of being right."

Restarting his reps, Bruce commented, "You shouldn't have asked the kid to lie for you. John's his best friend, and now Wally has to live with knowing he's keeping one hell of a secret from him."

Sitting down on the bench that Bruce had just left a few minutes ago, Shayera put an elbow on one of her knees and balanced her chin on her fist, "I know. If I had any other options, I would have taken them, but I owe John this much."

Bruce put the weight down to move onto some squats. He walked over to the weights held onto a metal bar and lifted the heavy materials easily onto his shoulders. Taking a deep breath to calm his heart rate slightly, he began his exercise. Shayera took another large bite of her ice cream before she asked, "Why don't you tell me what's bothering you?"

Keeping his calm, Bruce lied, "Nothing's bothering me."

She had to roll her eyes, "Quit the bullshit, Bruce. If you want to improve your acting, I would recommend appearing less like a hormonal teenager."

He simply glared at her to dare her to go any further. He should have known she would.

"I'm sorry. I get why you're angry at me, but I really am sorry."

"I'm not mad at you, Shayera." He said honestly.

She frowned and stood up, sitting the ice cream on the bench as she did so. Slowly, she walked over to Bruce, giving him a funny look, while he continued his squats. He expected her to say something, but she remained a few feet away staring at him with a question in her eye. She finally spoke only to say, "You have to be mad with me about something. Otherwise, what's all this about?"

"Maybe I just wanted to work out." He was starting to get annoyed.

"No. This isn't working out. This is you trying to get out all your anger so you don't go and knock the shit out of the Joker or someone. This is what you do when you are genuinely enraged. So tell me. Tell me what's on your mind!" She demanded.

"If something was wrong I would tell you!"

"Just get it off your chest, Bruce!" She yelled.

"I'm fine!" He roared. With that, he dropped his weights so they hit the cement floor with a loud bang!

She stopped and he saw just a flicker of fear pass over her eyes. His breathing stopped as he realized what he had just done. Hawkgirl never showed fear, even when in the midst of battle. He closed his eyes and felt his hands clench themselves into fists. If he didn't hold himself together, he was worried about what he would say to her.

Then, he felt her small hand take ahold of his shoulder. He opened his eyes to see her standing right in front of him.

"Bruce," she whispered with a hint of knowing, "What is there to blame yourself for?"

Of course she would be the one to guess.

He pinched his nose between his pointer finger and thumb. "Does it matter?"

She nodded. "You need to tell me before this hurts you more than it already has."

He swallowed and took a step back. Opening his eyes, he let his hand fall and began, "You and I have always been the ones to do what needs to be done. Clark and Wally have this bright optimism and believe so much that the only way to make the world better is by doing only absolute good. Then there's J'onn, Diana and John, who have this unbreakable honor. But you and I, we were always the ones who could cross the line if we needed to. We see the gray areas and know that sometimes, you have to go there. I knew that I could count on you to always do what what you had to in order to protect the world. Even if I never said this, I trusted your judgement above the others. Sometimes, I might have questioned it, but I always respected what you had to say. Maybe you were too headstrong, but we shared an outlook, to an extent.

"Then, fucking aliens invaded, and I realized your judgement was perhaps the most flawed. In order to save our world, you nearly destroyed it!" He was yelling by the end, almost out of breath in his anger.

She looked at him with understanding in her green eyes. Unlike most people would, she had no tears to shed, although her cheeks were flushed a rosy pink. Cocking her head to the side, she asked, "And now you're worried that we're the same on that too?"

He nodded and looking off into space said, "Clark complains all the time that I'm too pessimistic. I'm willing to give up a few to save the many, and he thinks that everyone is worth the risk to try to save. Maybe he's right. Maybe I just can't see things in the light I should."

"No." She said forcefully. He stopped and looked at her in surprise. She continued, "Bruce, I have never met someone who was as determined as you to do as much good as you do. Me, I let my own feelings come between me and the job. You have a… clarity. Something I have come to realize I was lacking. Don't let my failure to follow a moral compass impede your ability to do so."

He laughed deeply, "Some people would say I don't have a moral compass."

She sighed, "Some people need to get their heads out of their asses."

"Are you going to talk like this after the baby's born." He smiled for the first time since she had arrived.

She took a deep breath and blew it out of her mouth slowly, "Honestly. I don't know what I'm going to do after the baby is born."

"Well," he reached for the towel that he had hung on one of the weight racks earlier, "I don't know as much about medicine as J'onn, but what if we go downstairs and take a look with the ultrasound machine at your little bundle of joy."

She didn't even protest, just asked, "Can we?"

Grabbing a bottle of water, Bruce nodded, "I don't see why not. Let me change first."

She nodded and walked back over to the weight bench where she had left her midnight snack. At this point, it was a little runny, but she wasn't that picky. Taking another spoonful, she turned to Bruce and said, "Thanks for everything."

He had been walking towards the door to his locker room, but he turned and said slightly sarcastically, "What are friends for?"

Still, Shayera knew that something in him had started to change a little. She thought she could see him starting to let go of a little bit of the guilt that she was pretty certain he had been holding onto since the invasion. The more she thought about it, the more worried she was becoming at having to face the others again. If this is what she had done to Batman, by far the most hardened and tough of the Justice League, she shuttered to think about what she could have done to everyone else. But for now, all she could do was to keep eating her ice cream and look forward to seeing her child.


	8. Chapter 8

At this point, it was nearly three in the morning, and rather than sleeping like she should have been, Shayera was laying on a medical table in the Batcave. Bruce had taken a quick shower and had changed into a form fitting white t-shirt and pajama bottoms. After gathering an ultrasound machine, something she didn't think he would have, and pulling out a few medical books, he was almost ready to take a look at her child. He had to remind her that while he knew how to use the medical equipment, he was in no way medically qualified on anything related to pregnancy. Still, Shayera was excited to at least see a peek at her child, even if it wasn't a very good one. By this point, most women would have had a couple pictures of their kids, but her's was already kicking and she hadn't gotten anything.

The silence of Bruce attempting to understand the medical jargon of the few pieces in his books he could find referencing pregnancy was deafening. The Batcave was rather eerie at night, even though she had years to get used to it by now. The sounds of water dripping somewhere in the distance created an irritating pattern of noise which only emphasized the lack of speaking. She felt the need to say something because the anxiety of sitting in almost complete silence was nearly killing her. Trying to keep things light, she asked with a sly grin, "So, how long have you and Diana been together?"

That caused Bruce close the book he was skimming with much more force than was necessary, "Damn it! I told the kid not to tell anyone!" He growled.

Her jaw dropped, "Wally knows?"

Bruce frowned, "He didn't tell you? Then how do you know?"

Shayera smugly responded, "Did you know that Diana's favorite ice cream is Raspberry Sherbet with Chocolate? I was curious when I came across it tonight while hunting for some food."

Realizing the connection to the now empty container sitting on the keyboard to his computer, Bruce nodded, "I forgot there was a container in the freezer."

"Mmmhmm." Shayera said with just a hint of doubt. "She hasn't been staying here?"

"Nope," He said reaching for a tube on his instrument tray.

"Liar." She smiled. Lying on the table with her night shirt pulled up to her bra line, she felt ridiculous. Although she knew Bruce wouldn't make fun of her right now for the lacy underwear she knew he caught a glimpse of before she could throw a blanket over her lower half, she was sure he would store that information away for a day she wasn't expecting it. It made her feel much better to have the tables turned and to be able to make fun of him. Secretly, though, she was glad that Batman had finally gotten over himself and admitted the extent of his feelings for the princess. Suddenly, something extremely cold fell on her stomach.

"Hey!" She yelped.

"Oops." Bruce said sarcastically as he twisted the top back on the gel he had picked up a moment ago.

"Asshole." Shayera muttered. She felt him press the probe against against her lower stomach and he turned the monitor so they could both see what was on the screen. At first, she really didn't see anything because Bruce clearly had no clue what he was doing. Blurs of blacks, whites, and greys mixed together to create a pattern that made it nearly impossible to identify anything. After a few seconds, though, she could see a little head appear.

Her heart stopped because she swore that she never seen a more amazing image in her life. Every expectant mother probably felt that way, but it was still awe inspiring nonetheless. Bruce turned to look at her, but she couldn't keep the huge smile from her face and the tears making her eyes shine even in the dim lighting of the cave.

"Do you want to hear the heartbeat?" Bruce asked.

"Yes." She said enthusiastically while dabbing at her eyes. He flicked a switch and a strong, fast paced gushing noise filled the cavern. A weight that she hadn't known she carried felt lifted from her shoulders and she just barely noticed her lungs release a breath of relief. If nothing else, her child had a heart beat. For now, knowing this much was enough.

Bruce moved the probe slightly, and the image changed to show something a little strange. Shayera frowned, "Are those…?"

"Yes," Bruce nodded confidently, "Those look like wings."

"Wow." She said quietly. Even though she would have loved her child either way, it felt comforting to know that her child would be like her in that manner. The feeling of flight was one of the best things she had ever experienced, and the thought of her child to be unable to feel the same exhilaration was heart breaking. Selfishly, she also felt a joy knowing that she wouldn't be the only one of her kind anymore. However, she knew that being like her would also probably be a hardship for her son or daughter, which was distressing.

Bruce suddenly pulled the machine away from her stomach and said, "I think that's enough for tonight. You'll have to do this again soon anyway."

She nodded and reached for the cloth Bruce had thoughtfully laid out earlier to wipe the gel from her stomach. Her mood had significantly improved from earlier and she could tell that so had Batman's.

Quietly, Shayera stood up and pulled Wally's shirt back over her stomach so it fell much like an odd fitting dress. Then, she sat back down and said, "There's one more thing I would like to talk to you about."

Bruce sighed, "Can this wait until morning?"

Shayera looked uncomfortable, "What did you mean earlier? When you said that John had moved on?"

Bruce started to put his books and materials away. Avoiding eye contact, he spoke, "I had really hoped you had forgotten that comment."

He waited for her to make a smart ass response, but she remained silent as she waited for him to answer her question. Instead, he finished putting all of his medical texts back on his shelves, placed the ultrasound machine back in its spot next to his other medical equipment, and turned to face her. He pulled a chair that had been sitting by the wall over to where she sat, and looked her in the eye as he said, "He was hurt when you left. For a while, he waited for you to come back, and when you didn't… well, he thought it was time to start seeing other people."

She nodded slowly, "I see."

He waited for her to speak again. When he realized that she expected him to continue, he cleared his throat and said, "Her name is Mari. She goes by Vixen in the League."

Not knowing if she really wanted an answer, she asked, "What's she like?"

Bruce cocked his head to the side, "Do you mean, 'Is she like me'?"

Shayera nodded despondently.

He looked down in thought. Taking a deep breath, Bruce spoke carefully, "Well, she's like you in some ways. Determined, straightforward, stubborn. I've never known a time when she caved to anyone's opinion easily. Guess John has a type."

Pushing a hand through her hair, Shayera answered, "I'm not sure if that makes it hurt more or less."

When she didn't speak for a while, Bruce spoke, "Surely you must have more."

"Are they serious?"

He shrugged, "I don't make it a priority to keep up with the relationships of others. What they do is their business."

Squeezing her eyes shut for a moment, she quietly asked, "Do you think he still has feelings for me? Will he want me to come back?"

Thinking for a moment, Bruce replied honestly, "Those are two different questions. I think he'll want you to come back. I know he misses you even if he would never say so. As for how he feels, you would have to ask that yourself."

By then, Shayera had started to look off into the distance, plainly lost in her thoughts. After considering what to do, Bruce put his hand over her's, which was lying on top of her bump once more. She was starting to think that she had become a different person, always subconsciously touching her stomach and daydreaming about the baby when she had time. Still, she recognized what a big deal it was for the dark knight to try to comfort her so authentically. After snapping back into reality, she used her other hand to pat his in gratitude.

She sighed again and asked, "If I tell him about this, do you think I'm going to mess him up all over again?

He frowned, "I don't think you should put it in that context. Will knowing about his child change his life? Yes. But this is John, and you have to think about what he would want right now. He would want to know. He _deserves_ to know."

She laid back down in defeat, "I just don't want to do the wrong thing again. Everyone has always been hurt so much, and I don't want to hurt anyone anymore."

"Sometimes setting a break hurts as much as the break itself."

She glared at him, "Inspirational quotes don't count if you stole them from the back of a fortune cookie."

He rolled his eyes, "Here I thought my collection would do good for someone other than Wally and Clark."

Shayera struggled to sit upright again. Bruce stood up to offer her his hand, and while it hurt her pride a little bit, she accepted and let him hurl her up. After he had sat back down, she asked, "Okay, I'll tell him. But first we have to figure out who wants to take my head off."

Bruce shook his head, "Not tonight. We both need to rest. Anyway, everything will still be there tomorrow. We'll start looking then."

She agreed, "Tomorrow."


	9. Chapter 9

In the monitor room, J'onn was busy watching the events unfolding on Earth. While there were a few spots of concern, there was nothing to the magnitude that he would dispatch one of his team members. Somewhere in Europe, there was an avalanche, but it didn't appear to threaten more than a few animals. Several protests were also occurring around the world, but none of them seemed to be growing violent. Also, no heads of state had reported an incidences of importance since the night before. Overall, it was a light day for the Justice League.

He leaned back in his chair a little bit as he checked the status of Superman, the current member on call in case of an emergency. Clark had thought it would be nice to do some volunteer work during his time off, so he was in some rural area helping build a medical center. One of the things J'onn admired about his coworker so much was his dedication not only to fighting evil, but to having more positive impacts on the world they worked to protect. While J'onn didn't look at Clark's actual location, he saw that his heart rate and other vitals were well within normal range for the Kryptonian. Obviously, there was nothing to worry about.

Unlike most of the others, J'onn liked the peace and quiet. The others got anxious when there wasn't a mission or some other type of job for them to complete. Quiet was menacing to them. But he longed for the day when he didn't have to save the world anymore. He missed his family and home life, even after all the time they had been gone. Yet, he no longer was unsure of what purpose he held outside of the League. He had made few human friends during his time on Earth, and the vast majority of friends he had made were almost exclusively fellow heroes. Once their work was done, he was unsure if there would be anything left for him.

Yes, the peace was nice, but he did not wish to think of life after the League.

"J'onn? Can you beam me up?" Superman's voice echoed through the room.

Snapping back into reality, J'onn let his hand reach out for the keyboard in front of him and spoke, "Just a moment. Let me upload your coordinates to the Watchtower mainframe." A few minutes was all it took, and suddenly a bright light flashed and Superman materialized in the monitor room.

Looking as relaxed and easygoing as ever, Superman walked over to his friend, his cape waving effortlessly in the air by the motion. With a nod towards the screen, the man of steel asked, "Anything interesting?"

"Not currently." J'onn answered.

Superman leaned over the screen, second checking everything just to be safe, "I'm surprised there haven't been more problems lately. Even with expanding membership, the League has been short handed since the invasion."

"Batman has been meticulous about tracking and preventing major attacks. It's no wonder the global crime rate has dropped so significantly." J'onn murmured as he kept sorting through incoming news stories. Still nothing worth taking a visit to investigate.

"Yeah. Still, the world never stays calm long." He folded his arms over his chest.

Almost on cue, a beeping alerted the two men to a problem. J'onn slid his fingers over the keys of the computer, checking to see what was wrong. He was surprised to see that it was not an attack or disaster, but something worrying nonetheless. Turning to Superman, he said, "An alien communication just reached Earth. The signal is attempting to reach someone in Central Brazil."

Frowning, Clark asked, "Can we intercept it?"

After a second, J'onn replied, "Negative. Whoever it is trying to send a message, they don't want anyone listening in. I've never seen this kind of encryption before."

"Well, can you tell where it's coming from?" Superman countered.

Running his fingers over the keyboard as quickly as he could, J'onn said, "I'm trying to track it now, but it might take some time. The signal seems to be coming from somewhere very far away."

"Is there anything I can do?"

"Yes. Call Batman now!" J'onn muttered as he tried to locate the origin of the intergalactic message.

* * *

Wally walked down the stairs of the Batcave still in his boxers, pushing his messy red hair out of his hair. Despite it being only 9:00, Bruce was already at the computer, typing madly as pages of numbers and maps with dots all over the world flew around the screen. Taking his time, Flash got to the bottom of the stairs and pulled one of the extra chairs Bruce kept over to the computer. He plopped down in his seat, and took a bite of the banana he had stolen from his friend's kitchen.

"Mm, whatcha doin'?" Wally asked while chewing his food.

Bruce didn't respond. Instead, his brows pulled together in an expression of anxiety and he kept working. Still eating his fruit, Wally tried to make sense of the information on the computer. Quickly, he realized it was a lost cause and he pestered Bruce, "Seriously, what are you doing?"

Bruce cast a hurried glance towards the door to his den and then turned back to the monitor, "J'onn just called. An encrypted message was sent from the next galaxy over. It attempted to contact someone near the village that you and Shayera made contact."

"How close is close?"

"Within a mile."

The clicking of computer keys filled the momentary pause in the conversation between the two heros. Finally, Wally settled on asking, "Can you find out where it came from?"

Bruce nodded, "A planet called Pryatrona."

Shaking his head, Wally said, "Never heard of it."

"Really, the name isn't that important. What you need to know is it's one of a number of planets which large numbers of bounty hunters frequent."

"So one of them is after Shayera?" Wally realized.

"Close. Going back over the history of communications between Earth and the planet, I've found that there have been several messages with varying types of encoding systems sent between the planet and parts of North and South America. Most didn't raise an alert because they were quite short and seemed unthreatening. This one, however, was much more urgent and something triggered our communications software to flag it. What this leads me to believe is that someone out there probably enlisted a number of hunters to seek out a bounty on Hawkgirl's head. That's why she constantly felt that someone was following her - because someone most likely was." Bruce looked genuinely worried.

"Okay, so we need to find out who these people are and arrest them. They are acting as interplanetary vigilantes. Is there any way of tracking the number of recipients of the messages and maybe their locations?" He finished his banana and tossed the skin in the trash bin by Bruce's feet.

"Potentially. It's something that I'll have to look into." Bruce frowned again.

"What's the problem then?" Wally asked.

Finally turned to face his friend, Batman growled, "The best hunters are going to be the ones _not_ communicating with anyone off planet.

Understanding dawned on him. Slightly in awe, he whispered, "We have no way of identifying the most lethal targets."

"Exactly." Bruce went back to working.

Wally considered what to do for a few minutes. This would definitely take some major work, not just from him and the Bats, but from other League officials. Shayera would definitely be against it, but this was no longer her call. The extent of the situation not only put her in danger, but every other person on the planet. The others would have to intervene at some point. Putting his elbows on his knees, Flash leaned forward and said, "We don't tell Shayera about any of this. This is something we handle on our own."

"By our own, do mean the two of us or the League?" Batman asked although clearly he had already chosen the League as well.

In a low voice, Wally said, "The whole Watchtower is going to have to be involved. We both know it."

Bruce nodded, "She shouldn't worry about this. We can create a false trail. Let her try to find someone else. By the time she realizes what's going on, we'll already have the criminals in custody and shipped off to a prison somewhere."

Wally agreed, "So it's settled. She doesn't know."


	10. Chapter 10

Wonder Woman tapped her foot impatiently as she sat alone in the meeting room. When Batman had called an emergency meeting she had never imagined being the first one there, let alone not knowing the reason the heroes were being called together. Usually, she would be one of the first to know since she and Bruce spent so much time together. But the last two nights, he had worked late and she had slept at the Watchtower. Alone.

She sighed and leaned back in her chair. It had been nearly ten minutes since she had arrived, and she wished to get this meeting over with. Not that there weren't other reasons for her to be moody. A lover who was currently ignoring her, for instance, would qualify in that category. The more she thought about it, the more irritated she was getting.

John walked in, in uniform and ready to go. He looked around at the almost empty room and asked, "Seriously? No one else is here?"

Wonder Woman nodded, "Apparently this meeting is not as urgent as we were lead to believe."

John sat down in his chair and crossed his legs in front of him, "I was really hoping for something to do today. This last week has been way too quiet for my liking."

Diana smirked, "You're girlfriend keeping you a little too busy?"

John laughed, "Wouldn't you love to know. I'll tell you about mine when you tell me about yours."

She frowned. While her and Bruce had been going out for a while, they both desired to keep things between them a secret for the time being. Perhaps rumors had been spreading; there would be no way John could know any solid information. Deciding that lying was the best course of action, she replied, "I have no idea what you could be talking about."

Smiling, John replied, "Sure you don't."

J'onn and Clark's entrance silenced the banter between the two. J'onn had on his usual unreadable face, but Clark definitely appeared stressed. His generally light eyes had a dark, serious edge, and he lacked the smile he almost always wore. The others definitely noticed Clark's demeanor. Diana frowned and asked, "I don't suppose you happen to know what this meeting is about?"

J'onn sat silently, but Superman responded, "I think so, but I'd rather let Batman discuss it. He hasn't give us any specifics yet." J'onn nodded his agreement.

Diana smiled, "Maybe we'll finally get action of the variety you desire, John."

Glaring at Diana, John said, "Guess that means you'll have to cut back on some of your social engagements too. Do you have enough things in the Watchtower for an extended stay, or do you need to run out to get a few items?"

She finally understood that he knew about her visits to Gotham. While J'onn and Clark exchanged confused glances, she growled, "Shut it, Lantern."

Batman choose that moment to enter the room. He slammed the door with much more effort than necessary and said, "Let's get started."

John spoke up, "The kid's not here. You know how he is, always late."

"He's not coming. Wally's already been informed." Now John looked confused. It was unlike Batman to rely on Wally for anything, let alone a matter of urgency. Bruce generally preferred to enlist either Clark or himself for missions he brought to the table. Still, John leaned back in his chair and waited for the Bat to explain why they were called together.

Bruce stood next to his chair as he spoke, "This morning, J'onn and Superman intercepted a communication between an alien planet and Earth, attempting to reach someone in South America. I've been able to break into the feed and identify the bounty hunter who was receiving the communication. The information I've received shows him to still be in the area. He needs to be picked up immediately."

"And this required us to be called together because... you were unable to handle one little assassin?" Diana asked with a raised eyebrow.

"No." Bruce growled, "This communication was one of just a number of such messages sent between the planet and Earth in the last few months." He sat down in his seat and reached for the tablet he kept next to his chair. The monitor they kept for such instances lit up with a map of the world. First, one bright red dot appeared, signaling the most recent message location, and then more dots appeared throughout Latin America.

"So he has a pen pal? So what?" John asked.

"These are orders that a number of such criminals have been getting since a hit was put out on this target." Bruce stated.

Superman chose that moment to speak, "What they are doing is wrong, but shouldn't we be more worried about this target. If somebody put out this hit that was this big of a priority, surely it's someone we need to be worried about. What do we know about him?"

"Her." Bruce corrected.

J'onn perked up, "You know who they are after."

Batman sighed, "Yes. But there will be no overreacting."

"Why would we overreact?" Wonder Woman asked with a cock of her head. This caused her long black hair to shift, catching Bruce's attention. Even though she had only been gone two nights, he still missed her. His defense of Hawkgirl was unlikely to win him any points either, guessing by her attitudes since Shayera had left the League. Worry washed over him for not the first time since he knew he had to tell the others. Still, he pushed on.

Looking at Diana, Bruce said in as normal of a voice as he could, "They are after Shayera Hol."

The whole room fell into silence. Diana was shocked for a moment, but that quickly turned to irritation. Clark and J'onn both looked thoughtful, but Bruce knew that they would both eventually come to support the decision to help Shayera. Turning to look to look at John, Bruce could see that the Marine had frozen. His expression was caught somewhere between hurt and concern, and the emotions flashing across his green eyes were clear.

Diana broke quiet, "Why should we help her? Shouldn't we be handing her over to the authorities ourselves?"

"Diana," Superman chided, "The United Nations agreed that she was not at fault for the invasion."

The warrior stood up and threw her hands in the air, "That didn't stop over 20 countries to declare her an international criminal and issue arrest warrants calling for her to stand trial! Who are we to protect her?"

"We are heroes who will not tolerate vigilante forms of justice." J'onn said firmly.

"Where is she now?" John interrupted. His face had settled on a neutral expression Bruce could see the effort behind.

Deciding to answer his question first, Bruce said, "She's staying at my estate, but no one is to bother her. Diana!"

Clearly not caring about what Bruce had just said, Diana marched out of the room. Even at the call of her name, the Themysciran kept walking without so much as a pause. Bruce looked around for a moment before stating, "Go back to work. We'll discuss this later!" He rushed out of the room after her, leaving the other heroes understandably still in shock.

That left of the other three to contemplate what had just happened. Clark turned to John, who had sat forward in his chair to put his face in his hands. His shoulders were tight with tension, and even from looking, anyone could tell they held the weight of the world. Concerned, Superman asked, "Are you okay, John? I know she was special to you."

Looking up, John shook his head. "I'm not doing this now. She needs our help, but there isn't anything else to discuss." With that, he followed Wonder Woman's lead and marched out of the room.

That left Clark and J'onn to sit in the room and consider the information they had just received. Looking at his closest friend, Clark said, "I don't know about you, but I'm going to help."

"She's still our friend." J'onn said.

Clark looked up in surprise. He hadn't been sure of how the Martian felt. J'onn continued, "We protect our friends."


	11. Chapter 11

Shayera woke up late the next morning. She probably would have slept longer, but Wally opened the door then, letting bright light from the hallway fall on her sleeping face. He pushed the door open with his back because his hands were carrying a tray that had some type of food on it. Shayera was sleeping on her stomach on top of a mountain of pillows, but her face was turned towards the door, causing the light to wake her.

Wally was much too joyful for morning, "Hey, sleepy head. Breakfast time!"

As he flicked on her bedroom light with his elbow, Shayera rolled onto her side, rubbing her eyes which were still hazy with sleep. She glanced at the clock, which showed it was nearly noon. Usually, she was a very early riser, getting up as soon as the sun was up, but her late night talk with the Batman had kept her up until nearly sunrise. It looked like she was more tired than she had felt last night. The smell of bacon had started to soak into the air, and the minute it reached her nose, Shayera knew that it was going to be a rough morning.

Throwing aside the blanket that had been covering her, she rushed to the bathroom with a hand over her mouth. She didn't even bother to close the door, as she rushed to the toilet to retch up whatever food was in her stomach.

"Shayera?" Wally asked in confusion. In the blink of an eye, he was in the bathroom holding her hair away from her face. "What's going on?"

When there was nothing left in her stomach, Shayera managed to spit out, "Get that damn food out of my room!"

Realizing what he had done wrong, Wally raced to get the food back down to the kitchen. Within seconds, he was spraying an air freshener over her head and running throughout the room to trying to erase the smell of what was supposed to be breakfast. Slowly, the nausea that had taken ahold of Shayera's stomach disappeared, and she started to feel better.

She sat back and leaned against the wall behind her. Pushing her bright hair back, she blew out a deep breathe. Appearing in a blur like he always did, Wally was suddenly sitting beside her. He tossed his arm over his shoulder, and although she was still very unhappy with him, she let him draw her head down to his chest as she continued taking deep breathes. He tucked his chin over her head, and she sighed a breathe of stress.

"Wally, my life is a mess." She whispered.

"No, it's not." He assured her.

"Fine," She huffed, "My life is a fucking mess."

"Shay, it's going to be okay. We've got this covered. We can handle one issue at a time. First, we get you to feeling better, and then everything else will work itself out. I promise." She relaxed a little. If Wally believed it was going to be okay, it was going to be okay. Even if circumstances didn't work out the way they wanted, Wally just had a way of making things work out. She had to believe that he was right.

"Okay. Okay, you're right. Enough of this… sad celebration?" She asked in confusion.

"Pity Party." He corrected.

"Yes. That." She sat up again. She brushed off his arm and put her arms in the air, silently asking him to help her up. He obliged and easily drew her up to her feet.

"Alright," She said in a happier tone, "What's on the agenda for today?"

"Well," Wally said thoughtfully, "Bats had to go up to the Watchtower for a little while. You know, run the world, keep people safe, but he'll be back later this afternoon. Until then, I was going make you breakfast, but you saw how well that turned out." He looked apologetic.

"It's fine, Wally." She smiled, "How about we take a walk. By the time we get back, I might be able to handle some toast or something."

"A walk? Like going slow?" He mocked.

"Hey, Legs. Some of us have a growing parasite to support. Make an exception, will you?" She threw back.

"God, Wings. Don't go soft on me now." He joked. He put his arm out in a mockingly polite gesture. She smiled at him with a sarcastic twinkle in her eyes and took his arm. She grabbed her cloak on the way out, just in case someone saw the two of them walking. She didn't want the world to find out that the famous Bruce Wayne was harboring a wanted criminal.

* * *

Luckily, Wonder Woman arrived exactly twenty minutes after Wally and Shayera left for their walk. She had teleported down to the Wayne Estate using the same program that Bruce had made for her so that she wouldn't have to ask anyone to type in her coordinates. Even she had to smile at how annoyed he probably was right now, knowing that he had made the very thing that was allowing her to go against his orders.

She arrived in his living room on the first floor. Immediately, she was marching up the stairs to the second floor, calling, "Hawkgirl! Where are you?"

There was no response. In any case, it didn't matter, Diana was determined to find her. As she strode down the halls of the Wayne Manor, she pushed each door open with enough force that it cause the door to bang off of the interior wall. Each room continued to be empty, but it didn't cause her rampage to end.

"Shayera! Answer me NOW!" She demanded.

At that moment, the door she pushed open revealed a bed with the sheets thrown off hastily and a bag of clothes laying on the floor. While she cast barely more than a glance at them, she was sure they belonged to a women. They must belong to her. She wasn't in her room, but she must be somewhere else in the house.

Turning to walk back down the hall, she saw Bruce was leaning against the wall in uniform. He looked annoyed and asked, "Are you done now?"

"Where is she?" Diana screamed.

"She's gone out for a little while. Worked out rather well, don't you think?" He asked like he was talking to a child.

"Don't you condescend to me. Do you realize the controversy it would cause if you were found harboring her?" She walked towards him with an accusing wave of her hand.

"Probably as much as it would cause if Wonder Woman were found looking for a fight with a former League member in the house of a wealthy international businessman. Actually, I'm guessing since that would most likely involve something about our continuing relationship, it would bat a few more eyes." He said lightly.

"Is this why you didn't want me here?" She demanded.

"From how you're reacting now, I can see that I wasn't wrong in keeping this from you." He met her halfway down down the hall and reached out to put his hand on her arm.

She didn't brush off his hand, but that was the only nice thing she did. Instead of calming down, she glared at him and said, "She's a traitor. In Themyscira, we would punish her for the extent of her actions. She would not be protected from others to whom she has also done harm."

Batman closed his eyes in frustration, "I understand that. But Diana, this isn't the same. You know as well as I do that she believed she was doing what was best."

"She was wrong." Diana responded simply.

Looking her in the eye once more, Bruce said, "That doesn't mean she deserves to be hated forever. Or to be hunted like a dog, for that matter."

Diana shook her head, "You are all too soft on her."

Bruce didn't back down, "Maybe you're being too harsh."

Sending another cold look, Diana conceded, "Fine. I'll leave her alone for now, but don't expect for me to help her. I want no part in this."

Bruce nodded. For now, that was enough. He motioned for her to step down the stairs. She lead the way downstairs to his living room, where she usually entered and exited his house.

Once they got to the teleporter location, she turned and let him wrap his arms around her. She leaned into his chest and breathed in his dark, musky scent. Even with his mask, she could feel his lips press into her hair and she smiled. Whispering so just the two of them could hear, she said, "Promise me that tonight, you'll stay at the Watchtower?"

She could feel his grin, "I might get back late."

"Fine." She huffed. In that second, she disappeared in a white light, although Batman stayed where he was.

A few moments later, Wally and Shayera came in from their walk. They found Bruce sitting in an armchair in the living room, reading an old, dusty book he had gotten from the bookshelf next to him. The two of them were smiling from some cheesy joke that Wally had made, and Bruce couldn't help but let the corners of his lips turn up just a little at the sight of them.

Noticing him, Wally grinned a little more and called, "Bats! Your back!"

Shayera looked at him happily, "How was the Watchtower?"

"Surprisingly uneventful. Did you two have a good morning?" Bruce responded nonchalantly.

"I did, but I'm not sure about Shayera. Apparently world destroying monsters are doable but bacon is way out of her comfort zone." Wally joked.

"Shut up." Shayera laughed. Then she turned to Batman and asked, "Time to get to work?"

Closing his book, he nodded his head and they slowly made their way down to the Batcave.


	12. Chapter 12

John's evening was going horribly. He was sitting in his kitchen staring at the remains of what was supposed to be his and Mari's dinner. When his girlfriend had called him earlier in the afternoon to ask about dinner, he had been happy to accept. He had offered to take her out anywhere she liked or to even bring dinner to her at her apartment in New York, but she had a surprising request.

"Let's eat at your place tonight." She had purred.

"My place?" He was a little startled. They almost never went to his place. Mari had never shown any interest in Detroit, and he always thought it was easier for him to travel into the city than to have her try to come out to see him since she was so busy. Still, he tried to play it cool and said, "Sure, we can do that. I can just whip something up if you would like."

"Sounds wonderful. Seven?" She said sweetly.

"It's a date." He had responded quickly.

At the time, he had been sure the night would go off without a hitch. He had been cooking for himself almost his entire life, and he was pretty good at it. Some would even say he was impressive. However, he was a little short on food, so he had run to the store to pick up a few things. Of course, they were out of a number of things, so he had to improvise and settle on a simple grilled steak with a sauce that he hoped Mari would like. She was a pretty picky eater, so cooking something she liked could be difficult. He was planning to cook some vegetables with it, so he knew she would eat at least part of the meal.

When he got home, he had started to prepare everything quickly since he was running a bit behind schedule by then. However, before he knew it, he was lost in his thoughts again and the steaks that were supposed to be so rare you could still talk to the cow were black and chard as the remains of a house fire. Not to mention the sauce had turned into something he didn't even want to get into describing and the vegetables were beyond salvaging. So much for his delicious home cooked meal.

He was still considering other options for dinner when there was a knock at the door. Setting the pan down on the stove that he had turned off, John went to answer the door.

Mari was, like always, a little early. She was dressed to kill in a gold dress that was strapless and tightly cinched at the waist, but flared out to brush loosely just above her knees. It was covered in glitter, and like everything else in Mari's life was very bright and very attention drawing. Her heels brought her to nearly John's height, so she leaned forward to peck a quick kiss on his lips.

"Hey, sugar. Ready for our night in?" She quickly walked past him and looked around his living room.

It was much like she had expected. Everything was placed very specifically, creating a very clean and uptight atmosphere. The room was painted beige with furniture in varying shades of neutral colors. Beyond the basics, there wasn't much in the room, but she was hopeful that the rest of the space would be different. Glancing over at the bookshelf, she could tell even his books were in alphabetical order. Such a control freak.

She smiled and turned to him, "Nice place."

"Thanks," He returned her smile. "Listen, I know I said I would make you dinner, but…"

He walked back into the kitchen and turned the pan so she could see what had happened. The grimace she showed him made it clear that there was no way she was going to eat that.

Walking over to the trash to dump the meat in, he said, "I'm so sorry, Mari. If you want, there are a bunch of great take out places around, and most of them deliver. We can have anything you want here in just fifteen minutes."

"Promise?" She teased.

He smiled and pulled the menus down from above his fridge, "Take your pick."

She glanced through them for several minutes before settling on one and proclaiming, "This one!"

Sticking the pamphlet in John's hand, he saw that she had chosen a Thai place a couple blocks down. He grabbed the phone off of the hook next to the fridge and quickly punched in the number for the restaurant. After a few moments of Mari pointing to her order and John trying to make his decision as he talked to the store manager, their food was on the way.

He set the phone back in its cradle and leaned against the counter. Mari was sitting at the bar on the other side of the island, her sparkling eyes focused on him. Collecting the menus to put back above the fridge and grabbing a wine glass, he asked, "So how was your day?"

She shrugged, "Oh, you know. Stopped a robbery, saved a few people from a car crash. Pretty quiet day when you consider. How was your's?"

He pulled out a bottle of wine from one of the cabinets. She loved wine, so he'd picked her up a bottle while shopping earlier even though he preferred to have a can of beer. Pouring the red liquid into her glass, he responded, "Pretty relaxed. Went up to the Watchtower for a while this afternoon, but other than that, I've been here all day."

Frowning, she swirled the wine he handed her before taking a sip, "Really? Because I heard all the founders were called in for an emergency meeting. Wanna talk about it?"

He sighed, "Not really."

She tilted her head slightly to the side and raised one perfectly arched eyebrow and said in a flirtatious voice, "That sounds like avoidance. Must have been something really good."

He leaned against the counter once more, "Just a couple of bounty hunters going after someone they shouldn't."

"Who?" She asked curiously.

His expression lost some of it's humor, and he answered seriously, "Shayera Hol."

She paused mid-drink before slowly setting her glass down. John had known she wouldn't take it well. Even though they had only been dating a few weeks, Mari had made it very clear that she would not tolerate competing with another woman. John had assured her that things between him and his winged ex were over, but he knew that she had picked up on some of the feelings that he still harbored for Shayera. But hey, although they hadn't dated that long, a lot had occurred in that short period of time. There were bound to be at least _some_ feelings left over, right?

Mari hadn't expressed any jealousy towards Hawkgirl yet, but a woman could only take so much. The return of his girlfriend who had only recently gained the title of ex was bound to bring up some feelings. Sure enough, he was right.

"Is she coming back?" Mari asked in a sober tone.

John shrugged, "I don't know. I didn't ask, and it really doesn't matter."

She laughed humorlessly, "Of course it matters, John. I want to know if she's going to be back in your life!"

John frowned, "It's not like that. I'm just going to help her out of this jam. She's still one of us, even if she's not an active member of the League anymore. But things between Shayera and I have been over for some time."

"Are you trying to fool me or yourself?" Mari stood up dramatically, "You won't let me in, John, and it doesn't take a genius to figure out why!"

"What the hell is that supposed to mean?" He asked incredulously.

"We've been dating weeks, and this is the first time that I've ever been to your apartment, and it's only because I practically invited myself!" She yelled.

"If I hadn't wanted you here, I would have said something! Anyway, what does my apartment have to do with anything?" He was so utterly confused by this woman.

"Every single step in this relationship has been one that I've had to push you to take." She started to hold up fingers, "Telling your friends, you coming to my shows, introducing you to my brother. Me coming here tonight is another step that _I_ took and that you just went along with because you felt obligated to do so. If you really wanted to be with me, you would have wanted to further our relationship in some way!"

He threw his hands in the air, "I'm the one who asked you out. We are together several times a week, and many of those times, I ask to make plans. I have actively pursued this relationship!"

"You do get that there is a difference between pursuing a relationship and pursuing me, right?" She said solemnly.

Now he was really confused. In a low voice, he answered, "I don't get the distinction you're making here at all."

She sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose, "It means that I don't know if you want this relationship because you want me or if you want to convince yourself that you are over Shayera and I'm just a convenient tool for that."

He froze as he finally understood. Thinking about it for a moment, he said, "I care about you."

She nodded, "I believe you. But I don't know if you care about me enough."

He was silent as he watched her gather her thoughts. Her hazel eyes looked off into the distance for several minutes as she composed herself. Finally, she spoke, "I know that you are fond of me, but I think that you still love her. Even if you don't want to admit it to me or yourself, I think that deep down, those feelings you have might've been hurt, but they didn't die. And I would be diminishing my self worth by staying in a relationship where I am either second place or am nothing more than a place holder. Maybe that will change someday, and if it does, I'll be waiting for you, John, because I do care about you very, very much. But right now, I need for you to figure out those things on your own. Maybe we jumped into this relationship too fast, but I won't apologize for needing to be someone's first choice."

With that, she walked out the door, leaving him speechless. He wasn't sure if he was in awe because she was right or because she was wrong and he had let her walk out. Running his hands over his smooth head, he blew out the breathe he had been holding while Mari spoke.

At that moment, the doorbell rang to signal the arrival of what was supposed to be their takeout. If that didn't add insult to injury.


	13. Chapter 13

Shayera strolled downstairs to the kitchen, taking her time to enjoy every quiet minute. Bruce had gone to stay the night with Diana, and she and Wally had both gone to sleep early. That meant she had gotten ten uninterrupted hours of sleep. That meant she had gotten up in time to see the sunrise that morning, like she loved doing. She even had time to shower and put on a nice blouse and some jeans with the expanding waistline that Linda had packed for her. Also, her back and wings had almost quit aching, although she was sure that as the day went on, the cramps would return. However, for now, life seemed utterly wonderful.

Making her way into the dining area, she could see that Wally was already up and making coffee. He smiled when he saw her enter the room and said, "I'm not making any food, I swear."

"You better not be." She joked back. It was still early for breakfast with her nausea. Sitting down on one of the stools at the kitchen's bar style setup, she reached for one of the bananas sitting in a bowl.

Wally motioned to the coffee behind him, "Want any?"

She raised an eyebrow, "Wally, caffeine is bad for the baby."

"Oh, shit!" His eyes widened, "What the hell are you supposed to drink for the next couple of months?"

She made a face of disgust, "I should make you a list of all the things I can't do. It might just be enough to give you a heart attack."

He sighed dramatically, "Must be a hard life. Growing a mini person."

"Hey," She pointed at him accusingly, "I am in a good mood. So help me, if you get on my cranky side by making sarcastic comments about how easy pregnancy is, you will be hopping on one leg from place to place. Think of how happy criminals would be."

He laughed, "Sure you want to exert the energy to hurt me?"

She blew out a breathe, "That's what I'm constantly asking myself now days."

Reaching into the cabinet behind him, Wally pulled out a mug to pour his coffee into. He looked at her as he made himself a coffee full of creamer and sugar to the point where Shayera wasn't sure if it was actually coffee anymore. At what point did it become sugar with a side of coffee? He pulled over a chair and sat opposite of her, also grabbing a fruit for breakfast. Finally, he asked in a serious voice, "Have you thought about how you're going to tell John?"

She frowned, "Yeah. A little."

He stirred his coffee, "How long are you going to wait?"

Absentmindedly, she rubbed her stomach with one hand, "Considering this baby is going to be here in roughly 4 months, sooner is definitely better than later. It's taken me this long to accept that I'm going to be a mother, and I haven't even begun planning the logistics. I worry that if I wait much longer, he's going to be pushed into an even tighter corner than he is now."

Wally glared at her, "Don't say it like you're sentencing him to jail, Shay."

She returned the look, "No, I'm not sending him to jail. I'm just the woman who's telling her ex-boyfriend that he's going to be a father after nearly getting him killed, almost destroying his world, and leaving him. Let's not get into the fact that he's currently dating someone else."

The speedster looked confused, "Who told you about Mari?"

"Frankly, I'm astounded that you didn't. How could you think that it was a good idea to keep something like that from me?" She threw back.

"Well-" Wally began, but never got a chance to finish.

At that moment, a loud explosion sounded from behind them, towards the living room. The force of the blow shook the whole house and sent dust flying into the kitchen. The lights also went out, making it so the dust created a shadow over the whole room. The noise caused Shayera's ears to ring, and the impact of whatever hit the house made her fly off her chair. Luckily, Wally caught her in his arms and set her down on her feet.

They both ducked behind the counters as Wally asked, "What the hell was that?"

Shayera was coughing harshly because of the soot in the air. She tried to cover her mouth with her elbow, but it did little good to stop her wheezing. Barely able to breathe, she managed to spit out, "Hunters."

"Shit." Wally nodded. Looking around quickly, he grabbed several knives from the set on the counter and handed them to her. He glanced around in a hurry and said, "We're getting out of here now."

Taking the weapons in one hand, she allowed him to help her up. He picked her up in his arms and raced into the hallway that lead to the Batcave entrance. She felt the air whip past her for a split second before the heard a shot ring out and Wally's arms disappeared. Flying through the air, she managed to land with most of the force on her arms, but tumbled into Bruce's study in a heap on the floor.

She gasped and tried to prop herself up on her elbow, but received several cuts from shards of glass from what must have been shattered windows. Still, she reached for her stomach with the other hand and was thankful to get a strong kick in response. The fall hadn't put much pressure on her stomach, but her protective instincts had kicked into overdrive. The knives had landed a few feet away from her. Crawling over the glass, which cut sharply into her forearms and knees, she managed to grasp the largest blade firmly in her dominant hand.

Turning to search for Wally, she couldn't see him down the hall from where she stood. Tears sprung to her eyes, but she refused to breakdown at that moment. Instead, she pushed herself to her feet and thanked the universe silently that she had put on shoes this morning in anticipation of another walk around the gardens.

She made it onto her shaky legs and started towards the hall where she had last seen Wally, but at that second, a man dressed in all black, stalked into the room. A handkerchief covered the lower half of his face, but she could see his cold and threatening eyes. They were such a deep brown, they were nearly black which made him all the scarier. But what was really petrifying was the emotion she could read in the pair of dark orbs. He seemed bent on her destruction.

His arm reached for his waist. Her heart skipped a beat when she saw the gleam of a pistol. Suddenly, she heard another voice from down the hall yell, "No. We need her alive!"

The man begrudgingly lowered his hand and took a step towards her. Automatically, she took a step back and held up her knife.

"Please." She whispered, "I don't want to hurt you."

"You're kind always causes us pain." He sneered, "You're only getting what you deserve, monster."

Instinct took over. His fist shot out to hit her in the face and she blocked, bring up the blade as she did so to cut his arm. His cry of pain echoed around the room as he stumbled forward. She took stood her ground, readying herself for another attack. As he turned to face her again, he picked up one of the knives that she had left when she stood up.

She sucked in a breathe, "You don't have to do this."

He growled, "You're people started this months ago." Then as if reassuring himself, he muttered, "You'll still be alive after a cut or two."

Before he could even take his first step towards her, she let her hand fly forward and released the weapon she had been clutching. Time slowed for a second, and regret washed over her as she knew the object would reach its target.

The man froze, his face distorting itself into an expression of profound pain, before he collapsed on the floor. Blood started to pool out from the wound in his chest. She stepped forward and lowered herself to gently stroke his graying face. Tears were pouring down her face rapidly, but she was still able to say brokenly, "I'm so sorry. Truly... I didn't want to harm you. I'm sorry."

Crunching glass behind her alerted her to another person entering the room. She swung around as she stood again to see another man dressed in a similar manner enter the room. He looked at her in distaste before looking behind her to see the dead man lying at her feet. The emotion on his face morphed into unmistakable grief, then almost instantly rage.

"You killed him." He stated in a dead voice.

Realizing she had no weapon, she watched in horror as he started towards her. Acting as quickly as she could, she started to turn with the intention of reaching for the weapon in her attacker's chest. Before she could look away, though, a red streak flew out of the hall and tackled the man. She jumped to the side to avoid the path the of the two crashing beings.

Wally scrambled to his feet almost instantly, leaving the unconscious man in a pile on the floor. He was still dressed in his pajama pants and t-shirt, but the white material of his top was now grey and covered in speckles of blood. Dirt covered his face, and his left eye was already starting to swell shut. He looked a broken mess already.

He started to step forward, but his right leg gave way, and he would have fallen to the floor had she not dove to help him. Breathing heavily, he barely managed to get out, "We have to hurry. There are more coming."

She nodded and silently supported him as they awkwardly hobbled towards the clock. Alfred must have heard all the commotion, as he rushed into the room from the same way Wally came just then. He looked around, saw the bodies of the two men, and then rushed to support Wally's other side. In his usual proper voice, he asked, "Whatever happened here?"

"Unexpected company." Shayera joked dryly.

Alfred turned the hands of the clock quickly and pushed the clock back to reveal the opening that would lead them to safety. He carefully guided the two of them through and then close the door tightly.

As he opened a keypad and punched in a code, Shayera examined Wally's injuries. Looking at his leg first, she rolled up his pajama pants to see blood covering much of his calf. Two deep puncture wounds showed that he had been shot twice, explaining why he could hardly walk. She sucked in some fresh air and said, "You'll live, but we're going to have to pull those bullets out. It's not going to be fun."

Wally's pained face was covered in sweat. He winced and said, "I've been through worse."

"Miss Hol, Mr. West, I'm afraid we'll have to worry about this once we're on the road." Alfred interrupted. He closed the panel and moved back to Wally's side to start moving him down the steps towards the motorcade of cars Bruce kept in his lair. As they walked, Batman's butler continued, "I have initiated a program that will alert the League to our visitors. However, we need to get as far away from the mansion as possible. There's no telling how long the house will be dangerous."

"Where can we go?" Shayera asked.

"North. Master Bruce had emergency locations prepared in case anyone were to ever breach the grounds." Alfred assured.

Once they reached the floor, Alfred left to pull the car around to where Wally was situated. Shayera sat her friend down and gathered as many medical supplies as she could find. With grimace, she placed several scalpels and pain medications in the duffel she had managed to dig up. Within three minutes, Alfred had Wally in the backseat and Shayera ran over to toss the bag in the back as well.

"Put this on." Alfred commanded. In his hand, he held her black cloak, which she must have left in the cave when she first arrived.

She did as he said without question while he spoke further instructions, "I have a GPS ready to direct you to a safe house. I'll have to take care of Mr. West's injuries right away, to avoid his spectacular healing abilities from doing further damage. That means you'll have to drive. I presume you have earned your license."

She panicked a little, "John only had time to teach me the basics. I'm not all that good."

He stopped her, "All you need to know is to drive fast and not get caught. Not to worry, we have a radar in the car; you need not worry about getting caught."

"Fine." She stepped around to jump into the driver's seat.

Alfred followed suit and got into the backseat. Shayera looked into her rear mirror to see the closest thing she had to family laying in the backseat, sweat dripping down his face. In as calm of a voice as she could manage, Shayera whispered, "Everything's going to be all right, Wally. We're getting out of here now."

"No worries, Legs. I know you've got my back." Wally smiled weakly.

Shayera gave a tight smile back. Putting the car in drive, she silently prayed to whoever was out there that she could get Wally to safety. With that, she speed through the cave, returning to life on the run once more.


	14. Chapter 14

Diana smiled as she felt Bruce's arms slid softly around her and pulled her effortlessly against his chest so that she could feel his strong heartbeat against her back. Although she had been slightly startled, she hadn't heard her door open or close, it was a pleasant surprise. This had been the third night she had fallen asleep without him, and she didn't like the feeling at all. She had tossed and turned for nearly an hour before falling into a restless sort of slumber.

Turning so that the was facing him, she silently pressed a kiss against the soft skin at the base of his neck. As she did so, she could feel him smile even in the dark. His deep voice echoed through her room, "I thought you would be asleep."

She tilted her head up so that his lips could meet her's for just a moment before she answered, "I was. But I was hoping that you would wake me."

"It almost sounds like you missed me." He chuckled.

"No." She smiled.

"No?" He asked jokingly.

She shook her head a little, "Maybe just a bit."

"That's what I thought." He pressed his lips to her's for a few seconds more before letting her snuggle her head deeper into the base of his neck. It was late and he knew she must be exhausted. While the others had a quiet day, Diana was on call after Clark and had to deal with several small incidences. None of them were important enough to call someone else in, but still tiring nonetheless.

"I'm sorry I lost it earlier." She sighed.

He gripped her a little tighter, "I don't want this to be a thing that comes between us."

"It won't." She promised. It had been a long night of wrestling with her own thoughts, but she had come to understand his point. Hawkgirl had been one of their friends, and if anyone was going to beat sense into her, it would be Diana. "I've been thinking, and you're right. We can't let her be killed. I might be mad at her, but that's not reason to sentence her to the fate those brutes have in store for her."

"So you're in?" He asked quietly.

She pulled back so she could look at his icy blue eyes. Even in the dark, she could just barely make out their beautiful depths, "I am one hundred percent in."

Once again, she snuggled against his chest and wrapped her arms around him. Even though he hated it, she pressed her cold toes against his warm legs. He shivered, but didn't say anything. Instead, he pulled the blankets tighter around them to keep her warm.

After a few minutes, he could hear her breathing slow and knew she had fallen asleep. He closed his eyes, but remained awake for a little longer, just listening to her and enjoying being in her arms. He hated to admit it, but he had gotten used to sleeping with her as well, and hadn't enjoyed being away from her. When all of this was over, he decided, he would ask her to officially move in with him. With that decision, he fell asleep and slept more soundly than he had since she had stopped coming to the estate.

They woke with a start some time later. Red lights were flashing in the darkness of Diana's room, illuminating the room in frequent intervals, and sirens were reverberating throughout the tower. Bruce never slept deeply, so he sat straight up immediately and jumped out of bed without haste. He stumbled towards her door to turn on the lights and saw she was also getting up quickly. Her black hair was tossed messily with sleep and her motions were clumsy with rest. Turning to look at him in alarm, she asked, "Do you have your suit?"

"Yes." He said as he started to get dressed, "And you?"

"I can be ready in less than two minutes. Go!" She ordered.

He smiled at how no nonsense she could be. Slipping on his cape and pulling his mask over his face, he slipped out of the room into the chaos of the Watchtower. As he hurried to the control station, he covered his hands with his gauntlets and hastily drew his boots over his feet. Luckily, everyone else was in such a flurry of activity, no one bothered to give him a second glance.

As he arrived, he saw Superman directing a team down to Earth while John sat at the monitor. Bruce rushed to John and asked quickly, "What's happening?"

John looked at him in horror, "What are you doing here?"

"Waiting to hear where you're sending me. Where?" He growled.

John looked towards the top of the monitor in dread. Bruce followed his gaze to see a large mansion with on fire, with a huge hole blown into one side of it. Fearing the response, he spoke deeply, "Don't tell me that's my place."

Nodding, John asked, "Tell me you had Shayera moved somewhere else."

"No such luck." Batman said. He spoke quickly, "Flash was down there with her. Between the two of them, they have a chance of getting out and making it to safety."

"Alfred?" John asked quietly.

Bruce nodded, "He's resourceful. If there was anything he could do to help, he would."

Slamming his fist down on the keyboard, John stood up and declared, "I'm going down there!" He stood up in determination, and marched to the Javelin Bay.

Batman stood up and called, "No, you're not."

John spun around in anger, "Don't you dare tell me what I can and can't do. What if it was Diana down there? How would you be acting right now."

Bruce took several steps forward until he was eye and eye with the Lantern. While his eyes glowed a threatening shade of green, Batman wasn't intimidated in the least. Instead, he lowered his voice and said, "I would probably be acting about the same. But I would expect you to be the voice of reason and tell me that I'm not going to do any good rushing in there with only part of the information."

John didn't move, but the resolve in his face wavered slightly. Bruce continued, "Listen to me. A dozen heroes are already on the way to put out the fire and investigate what happened. I will call J'onn and make sure he's on the way, but there's only a few ways this could go. One, she's dead, and in that case, you can hunt down whoever did that to her much easier with what we have here. I will personally help you put a bullet in the head of whoever is responsible. Two, she's hurt, in which case whoever is already on the way will get her back here twice as fast as you possibly can. You'll already be here when she arrives, and then you'll be with her much faster. Three, she's fine in which case she's going to call here and if you aren't here, it will take you that much longer to get to her. Do you see where I'm going with this?"

John sighed in frustration, "I just feel so useless here!"

Bruce nodded, "I know. Listen, I'll ask Clark who he sent, and we'll have eyes on the ground in less than ten minutes. You can freak out when we know what the hell is going on."

John looked down, "Fine."

Batman pointed over his shoulder, "Sit the hell down and stay there."

John glared at his friend, but did as he said. He mechanically moved to sit in the chair that Bruce had pointed to while the Bat pressed his ear piece. There was no way he was letting John out of his sight when he was in such a mood. Within a second, Clark's voice flowed into his ear, "This is Superman."

"What's the status of the responding team?" He spoke quietly.

"I've sent in Supergirl, Green Arrow, and J'onn. There are supposed to be more people who are on the ground meeting them there. I'm on my way now, but the others will probably beat me by a few minutes." He said quickly.

"Let me know when you get there." Bruce ordered.

"Will do." Clark said patiently.

Batman slowly made his way over to the monitors and sat in a chair beside John. His friend was tense with anxiety and was staring at the screen silently, waiting for something to change. Bruce looked at him and said, "Now we wait."

John nodded, "I need her to live."

Bruce asked quietly, "What about you and Mari?"

John let out a single, humorless laugh, "Not an issue. With her, I wonder if it ever would have been an issue."

Bruce thought for a second before saying, "I might be crossing a line here, but I've spent the last two days with her. That's not a lot of time, and she probably wouldn't want me saying anything, but her feelings for you don't seem to have changed."

John repeated, "I need her to live."

"I know." Bruce sighed. He hoped for all of their sakes that Shayera, Wally, and Alfred managed to escape the destruction they were witnessing.


	15. Chapter 15

John sat stiffly in an uncomfortable chair in the Watchtower, glancing nervously between the monitor and the clock that hung that hung on the edge of the monitor. Wally had sat it there once so that he always knew the time in Central City. Since the tower was in space, there were always clocks and watches set to a number of time zones, but he could never remember which one was which. Instead, he had bought a tiny, green clock that was obnoxiously covered in little images of John dressed in his Green Lantern uniform and stuck it to the side of the computer with a sticky strip. John had tried to take it down on a number of occasions, but Wally must have bought an entire supply because every time he destroyed one, in increasingly gruesome ways, a new one appeared in its place. Whenever he lost track of time, Wally would speed past it to remind himself and then hurry back to where ever he had been before. John had always thought it was the dumbest thing he could imagine, but right then, he would have given anything for his childish friend to run past him with a cheesy joke and a dorky smile.

Now John found himself using the clock to count the minutes until he found out if the team had found a body matching Wally's description. Since Bruce hadn't wanted to reveal Wally's identity, he had only told J'onn to keep an eye out. The others just knew to look out for a young, red haired man which meant that it would take longer to find out if he had been in the building, since they would assume he was simply another criminal. They hadn't told the others to keep an eye out for Shayera, though, assuming that a winged body would get their attention right away. He was dreading getting a message that one or both of them was found.

He couldn't imagine life without either of them. Even though Shay had been gone for months, he had always expected her to waltz back through his apartment door one day with a case of beer and a story of a fight she had gotten into that day. Just like always, she would sit on his spot on the couch and give him an annoyed glare if he bothered to point out that he liked that seat. The loss of that possibility hurt him more than he could express.

He looked at the clock again. Thirty eight seconds had passed since the last time he had checked. Looking at Bruce, he asked, "Do you think they'll be much longer?"

"They've reached the estate." He murmured.

John stared at the screen as he watched the heroes enter the mansion's door. J'onn didn't even bother to open the door, phasing through instead. Supergirl and Green Arrow busted through behind him. The picture on the monitor changed from an overhead view of the Wayne property to a smoke filled interior. Arrow almost always wore a camera in case of instances such as this one.

The images were difficult to interpret. There was so much fire and smoke that Batman and the Lantern could hardly make out anything of much importance. Every once in awhile, Bruce could make out something that he recognized, but the Arrow was moving quickly, making it hard to put the broken images together. Instead, they relied upon messages coming from Oliver.

"The fire has spread out through most of the lower floor. I've already found six men dead." His voice flowed through the speakers, "I don't think there's anyone left alive inside the house."

Bruce put his elbows on the keyboard and leaned his head against one of his fists. Knowing that John couldn't find the words, Bruce asked, "Is any of them a red haired man with freckles. He'll be in his mid-twenties."

There was a pause as Oliver called out the same question to Supergirl. When she yelled back, "Yeah!" John felt his heart drop. What little of Bruce's face that he could see turned to an ashy gray, much as John supposed his own had. The kid was special to all of them, though they didn't tell him nearly enough.

Oliver had started to move towards Kara's voice. Though John didn't want to see the kid's face, he found that he couldn't look away from the monitor. Bruce had closed his eyes in dread, but as the smoke cleared and he could see Kara leaning over a darkly dressed man's form, Wally knew that something looked off. Leaning forward, he called gently, "Bruce, look."

The dark knight looked up to see Kara remove a piece of cloth from the man's face. While he was certainly a freckled red head, he was definitely not Wally West. Breathing a sigh of relief, John spoke to them, "That's not him. Keep looking." Even though they had the rest of the house to search, John started to feel a little bit better. The kid might have gotten away.

J'onn's voice came through just a moment later, "I've been through the whole house. They aren't here. I'm sure of it."

Bruce's shoulders slumped in relief. He nodded his head, and John leaned back as relief poured over him. He silently thanked whatever in the universe had spared him the loss of the two most important people in his world. However, J'onn wasn't finished. He continued, "Batman, there is a vehicle missing as well. They must have taken it."

John turned to him, "Please say you have them fitted with tracking devices."

Bruce shook his head, "Not these. They are in case of emergency and tracking devices can be hacked into. I didn't want to take any chances."

"So we have no idea where they are?" John said angrily.

Bruce glared at him, "They got out. They'll find a way to make contact."

The Batman turned back to the screen and asked in a weak voice, "What about Alfred. Is there any sign of him?"

John felt horrible for a moment. He wasn't the only one whose family had been in the mansion. There was a short silence before J'onn answered, "No. There was nothing to suggest he remained in the house once the fire started. In fact, the Batcave is on high alert right now, suggesting someone entered the defense code."

Batman smiled slyly, "Smart old man."

"I'm here." Superman said suddenly.

Bruce smiled, "Work on getting the flames under control big guy. Then your next project is going to be helping me find a contractor to build a new house."

"Darn. And here I thought I was going to have a quiet weekend." Clark joked.

John looked at Wally's clock once more. The agonizing minutes that had passed seemed like nothing compared to the possible hours or even days that awaited him. Who knew how long it would take for Wally or Shayera to contact them. He took a deep breath. If nothing else, they were out there somewhere, and they were alive. For now, that was enough.

* * *

Shayera pulled over after driving for several hours. They were in an underground parking garage in a big city that she had never heard of. After all these years on Earth, the geography was still confusing to her. While she had gotten better at naming countries, the names of most cities still eluded her. It was sad, because it looked familiar. She had probably been there before on a mission, but couldn't place which one.

The drive to where they were had gone smoother than she had anticipated. Alfred complained that she used the gas pedal too freely and turned corners much too tightly, but she had managed to get them where they were going in one piece. However, driving in the city was considerably more difficult. She still didn't quite understand stop lights. Yes, John had said they were to direct traffic, but why were there so many of them? Alfred had made her stop practically every minute. And she had still passed through at least five of them while they were red. Still, she hadn't gotten a ticket, so she couldn't have done too bad. Perhaps the police scanner Alfred brought had helped a little.

She got out of the car and stretched her stiff arms. The drive was hard, not just physically. Wally had tried to hold back his cries of pain as Alfred pulled two large bullet out of his calf, but since his metabolism broke apart medications so quickly, painkillers did little to help him. Alfred has some stronger items, but he was worried that even those would not work on the Flash. Luckily, he had passed out soon after Alfred had finished fixing him up, and now was sleeping soundly in the backseat. Afterward, Alfred had forced him to take a handful of pills, which he assured would make the young man feel much better.

Behind her, Alfred slowly got out of the car, dusting off the materials left on his black suit from the fire. He spoke in a serious tone, "I just have to go upstairs and talk to the manager quickly. Master Bruce hasn't used this apartment in quite some time, and there are a few things to be taken care of. Is there any way you could get Mr. West ready and I'll come back momentarily?"

"Of course, Alfred." Shayera smiled weakly.

He nodded and walked over to the staircase she could see a little ways away. Turning back to the car, she opened the backseat and saw Wally laying across the whole backseat. Even so, he was tall enough he looked cramped in the tight space and was curled inwards to fit himself on the leather seat. His eye hadn't stopped swelling, growing puffy and turning to an unattractive shade of violet. There were also cuts on his forehead and left check from what she presumed was glass. Alfred had bandaged Wally's leg and a few larger cuts on his arms, but he still looked so peaceful as he sleep.

She tilted her head a little and watched him breathe in and out for a few seconds. His always young face looked adolescent as utter innocence took over his features. His ruffled hair stuck out in odd directions with ash speckled throughout and his pajamas, tattered and bloody as they were, made him look even cuter. Finally, she reached out and gently took hold of his shoulder. Shaking it gently, she whispered, "Wally. Come on, we're here."

He mumbled, "Few more minutes."

She smiled sadly, "Don't you want to talk to Linda. The sooner we get you upstairs, the sooner you can call her."

Nodding, he opened his eyes and rubbed them with the back of his hand. He sat halfway up slowly, propping himself up on one elbow and looking around in confusion at the parking garage where they were sitting. It was nearly empty, and badly lit, making it even more difficult to identify where they could be. She patted his back, both in comfort and in an attempt to get him up, "I know. I'm not sure where we're at either."

"Think we were followed?" He asked.

"I don't think so. Alfred and I did everything we could to cover our tracks. At this point, we'll just have to wait and see." She said shakily.

He nodded and sat the rest of the way up. Cautiously, he put his good foot on the ground and stepped out of the car. She slipped her arm underneath his, supporting some of his weight. Just to see how bad his leg was, he put down his bandaged limb and put the smallest amount of weight on it. With a gasp, he snatched his leg up from the ground.

She looked at him with just a bit of pity in her eyes. Wally without one of his legs meant that he was stationary for the time being, something the speed demon hated. She locked the car, slipped the key in her pocket, and helped Wally start hopping to the staircase.

"Mr. West. Whatever do you think you're doing?" Alfred's voice came from behind them unexpectedly. Wally jumped in surprise and Shayera let out a small gasp. No wonder Batman moved so silently, he learned from the best.

Alfred appeared just as put together as he did every other morning. In front of him, he pushed a wheelchair that caused Wally to make a face of disgust. Still, he plopped down in the seat without a verbal complaint. Nonetheless, he gave Shayera the most annoyed expression she had ever seen a person make. She giggled a little and said, "It'll only be for a day or two, knowing you."

"That's all it takes to ruin a man's ego." He muttered under his breath, just loud enough for her to hear.

Stifling her laughter, she turned to follow Alfred as he lead the way to an elevator somewhere in the back of the parking garage. She finally started to relax for the first time since that morning. Her baby's movements were helping her feel better, knowing at least her little one was safe and playing a mean game of soccer with her internal organs. God, it was going to be a long next few months at this rate.


	16. Chapter 16

A few minutes later, Wally and Shayera were sitting on a much too costly couch in an apartment taking up the whole top floor of the building. It was by far the most expensive apartment either she or Wally had ever been in. Everything was stainless steel, sleek, and cold colors of black and white, with hints of gray. When Wally had been pushed out of the elevators, he had sarcastically muttered, "Of course."

She had silently agreed. Still, Alfred had been kind enough to offer to go retrieve them each a cell phone so they could call the others and let them know they were okay. Apparently this apartment complex was used to the strange needs of Bruce Wayne, and Alfred could get whatever he wanted easily.

At that moment, her stomach growled, and she realized how hungry he must be as well. "Wally, we both need to get some food in us." She sighed.

"Shay, I'm so tired. I'm not sure I can stand up, let alone make food." He said in a pathetic voice.

She put her arm around him and let him lay his head on her chest. Normally, he would never get such special treatment, but since he was feeling so rotten, she allowed it. He closed his eyes, but kept talking, "Would it be wrong to have food delivered?"

"There's never anything wrong with ordering take out." She laughed.

"John used to joke that you couldn't cook. You're idea of a home cooked meal was reheated pizza." She could hear the smile in his voice.

"Yeah? That's what you two assholes do in your free time? Talk about my cooking skills? Must be some life you two got going there." She teased. After a moment, she pushed him away and stood up with the help of Wally's hand on her lower back. Walking over to the kitchen, she said, "Bruce must keep some delivery menus around here somewhere. There's no way he survives without them."

She started to open drawers in the kitchen while Wally said, "I think Alfred stuck me with some kind of tranquilizer. It's not helping with the pain, but it's sure doing something."

On the third try, Shayera hit the jackpot. Not only were there pizza places, but a variety of specialty restaurants too. On her walk back to the couch, she said, "Tonight, Wally. We'll feast like kings."

"YAS!" He called gleefully. Without question, he took half of the stack from her and started flipping through them.

Suddenly, Shayera realized, "We don't have any money with us."

"I memorized Bruce's credit card information. No worries." Wally said nonchalantly.

After she stared at him in silence for a moment, he looked up and clarified, "Sometimes, I like to order things on his Amazon account. He acts strange when you ask him for his credit card number and expiration date, so I just decided I would keep it in case of emergencies. Or if I was bored….mostly because I was bored." Wally kept looking for food.

"You are most definitely high on something." Shayera observed.

"And I'm going to enjoy every minute of it." Wally leaned against her once more.

Alfred returned then with a cellular device in each hand. While he gave a strange glance to the two of them sitting on the couch, all he said was, "These should allow you both to contact the others without worry. I see you have found Master Bruce's stash of food services. Would you like something ordered?"

Taking a phone, Shayera spoke, "Thank you, Alfred. Is there any way you could order us some dinner? I'm craving a pizza like you wouldn't believe." She rattled off her order, and his eyes only widened slightly by the strangeness of what she craved. Wally didn't even blink, far too used to her odd food choices. Instead, he just wanted a couple of pastas from an Italian place not too far away. While she had ordered something weird, at least she had ordered a normal human amount. He had gotten enough food for four people. By four people, she meant four starving football players.

Alfred gave them a strange look, but nodded and went to order their dinner. Before he left, Wally asked, "Alfred. Have you talked to Bruce yet?"

Shaking his head, he answered, "No, sir. Once dinner is on it's way, I will let him know we arrived safely."

Wally nodded.

Shayera sighed and said, "I'm going to head into the bedroom. It's time to give John a call."

"You sure you're ready for that?" Wally asked as he turned to look her in the eyes.

She nodded reluctantly, "I'm going to have to be."

* * *

Staring at the shiny, new phone in her hand, Shayera had never felt so anxious. She continued pacing back and forth in front of the dark tinted windows that surrounded most of the exterior of the apartment. Every scenario of how this talk could go was ricocheting around in her skull, creating a shroud of self doubt and worry. She pulled her hair off of her face and blew out another deep breath, while shaking her hands to release some of her pent up energy.

Finally, she decided that she might as well get it over with. With shaky hands, she typed in the number that Wally had given her before she had left him on the couch. He was still looking out for her, even while pumped up on whatever strangely potent medication Alfred had dosed him with.

Bringing the phone up to her ear, it barely even rang once before concerned voice answered, "Hello?"

She froze for a second as the cracks in her heart threatened to break open once more. The months that she had been away only made her realize how much she cared for her Lantern, and while she had promised herself she would keep this formal, she understood then that this would never stop being personal. Her hand came up to brush her hair back, and she heard him ask again, "Hello? Shayera, is this you?"

"Yes." She vocalized as strongly as she could.

"What happened? Are you okay?" His agitated voice replied immediately.

She nodded before speaking aloud, "A few bumps and bruises. You know how it goes." Her feet keep leading her back and forth across the carpet in front of the window without her permission. There was simply too much nervous energy in her body to remain still. She asked without thinking, "If I tell you where I am will you come?"

Suddenly, she was twice as scared as she had been before. He could say no. In fact, he had every right to say no, especially considering how she had treated him when she left. However, the hope that he would show up anyway was welling up in her chest, and she wished more than anything that he would come. Barely a split second passed before he said, "Of course."

Letting out the breathe she didn't know she had been holding, she said, "We're some place called Toronto, I believe Alfred said. Bruce should know where to go. Can it be just the two of you and J'onn? Wally's leg needs medical attention."

"Yeah." He spit out before she could change her mind. "I'll talk to him and we can be there in less than 30 minutes."

"Okay." She smiled but didn't hang up.

"Okay." He answered. Silently, he wrote down the city name and then his, Batman, and J'onn's names to pass to Bruce. Automatically understanding, his serious companion moved to get the others and prepare the Javelin. He, however, stayed on the line, just listening to the soft sounds of her moving around where she was for a minute more.

"John? Can talk to me for just a little while longer?" She asked quietly.

"What do you want to talk about?" He asked.

"Can you just tell me a story? Tell me something that Wally's done since I've been gone." She smiled as he reacted exactly the way he expected.

"God, that kid. He's been even more relentless since you left. It's like if there's no one threatening his life and limbs, there's nothing keeping him in check. A couple of weeks ago, he got it in his head that he could steal all of my left socks. So, I get home, and…" John's frustrated voice recounted every hilarious detail. Secretly, she thought that Wally was hilarious; no one should have their left and right socks labelled. Still, she found herself grinning like a fool while John's exasperated voice was carried through space to her.

Finally, he said, "Okay. We're leaving now. I have to let you go, but we'll be there in just a few minutes."

"Okay. See you then." She said regretfully.

She left him be the one that hung up. For a second, she looked sadly at the now lifeless device in her hand. Then, she marched into the other room to make sure that Wally had called Linda.

Instead, the delinquent sat on the sofa, tossing the cell high into the air and catching it. The amusement on his face was both adorable and frustrating. Like she often did, she let him toss the object once more, and as it fell back to land in his hand, she reached out and snatched it from her expectant pal. His face distorted into disappointment and he whined, "Hey!"

Sitting down on the armrest beside him, she asked like she was talking to a child, "Now, did you call Linda?"

"Linda?" Wally panicked, "Oh, my god. She must be so fucking worried. I should call her!"

Shayera held the phone above her head, just barely keeping it out of his reach. He strained to get the device back before collapsing to the couch dramatically in defeat. Smiling, she waved the phone a little and asked, "If I type in the number, are you capable of assuring your girlfriend of your survival once I talk to her?"

He huffed, "Fine. But I won't be happy about it."

She grinned, "It's okay. I'll be happy enough for the both of us."

As he slowly recited the number he had memorized, she pressed each key one at a time. Halfway through, he lost track of where he was, and she only pretended to be slightly upset when he started over. Then, he sat back and stared at her like an expectant toddler on Christmas morning.

The phone rang once and started to ring a second time when a feminine voice answered, "Wally?"

"Shayera." Before her friend could panic, she assured, "Wally is alive, and he's right here."

Linda growled, "I'm going to kill that man for not calling me himself."

Wally shook his hand across his throat in a call for secrecy, but Shayera added, "He would have, but the idiot got himself shot this morning. Everything is going to be fine, but someone gave him something that made him higher than a kite. He's pretty out of it."

The light twinkle of her laugh made Shayera feel much better. Linda assured her, "Thanks for the heads up. You can put him on the phone."

Shayera extended the phone to Wally who grabbed it out of her hand in the blink of an eye. He quickly pressed the phone to his ear and excitedly told Linda about their adventures that day. Glad that she had given the woman a little background, Shayera stood up and walked into the kitchen. Her heavy cloak still hung around her shoulders, but she was more worried about the stinging on her arms and legs, reminding her of the various cuts that had yet to be addressed.

Alfred had already set some white clothes on the counter, and she sat down in front of them. The exhaustion was finally starting to settle on her. Appearing from behind her, Alfred asked, "Ready to get bandaged up, Miss Hol?"

"Yeah. They're going to be here in just a few minutes." She informed him.

"I'll be fast. I swear." He gave her a reassuring smile. "Could you remove your cloak and pull up your pant legs?"

Following his directions without question, she sat back and let him skillfully tend to her wounds. While she was looking forward to seeing John again, she was already worried about his reaction. Still, her day could only go up from where she was now.


	17. Chapter 17

Once all of her wounds had been properly covered in salve and dressed, which true to Alfred's words only took two minutes, she went back over to the sofa to lay down and put her head on Wally's lap. Still talking on the phone in an animated voice, he softly stroked Shayera's hair while she closed her eyes. Her stomach was still in knots, but her head was also starting to bother her. Looking up, she saw that Alfred had placed a glass of water for each of them on the coffee table in front of the couch. Silently thanking the universe for potentially the most thoughtful man in the world, she took a couple of careful sips from her glass.

"Linda, have you ever been to Canada?" He pronounced the word with an extra syllable so it sounded like Can-A-Dee-Ah.

Shayera could hear Linda confirm that she had been. Wally continued excitedly, "It's so cool here, Linda. I think we should come here some time to hang out. Maybe Bats can come too, and we can all just order pizza and relax in his apartment."

"Wally, that's what we're doing right now." Shayera rolled her eyes.

"Oh, never mind." Wally sounded disappointed. A few moments later, with a few more sweet comments from his kind girlfriend, Wally disconnected looking content. He sighed happily and said simply, "I'm going to marry that chick someday."

Shayera nodded happily, "You better."

He kept talking, "She's so cool, Shay. I've never met someone so funny and nice. She likes video games and eating junk food for breakfast and even lets me give her piggyback rides when I want to go out on a run. Plus, she's cute and carefree and just… happy. Even though I know I shouldn't, all I want to do is ask her to marry me and then adopt eight dogs."

She frowned, "You totally had me going until the eight dogs thing."

"I was going to say kids, but then I changed my mind. I'll let you have yours before I decide. If you can handle a kid, I've got this in the bag."

She sat up and smacked his good leg, "Thanks for the vote of confidence, asshat."

He beamed, "Any time."

She frowned, "Shit!"

His face fell, "What is it?"

"This damn baby is pressing on my bladder again. I'll be back." She struggled a little more than usual to get up since the couch was so comfy it had just seemed to swallow her up. Finally, she stood upright and walked into the master bedroom to go to the ensuite bathroom.

She decided that she was going to toss on a different shirt while she was at it. The one she was wearing was filthy and torn, offering her no comfort whatsoever. Glancing in Bruce's closet quickly, she noticed there were several pieces of women's clothing - slinky evening gowns and chic tops with dress pants hanging with them. Nothing she would wear, even if she had a desire to do so. Looking over to Bruce's side, she happened to notice a large sweatshirt near the back that would work perfectly.

After using the bathroom, she put on the navy pullover which hung loosely around her, covering her to her mid-thighs. She looked in the mirror and although she now looked like a large blueberry, it was better than she had looked before. Her skinny jeans and socks did little to make her look better, especially as she realized her socks didn't even match. Damn it. Pulling down her wavy hair so that it framed her face neatly, she decided that was as good as it was going to get. As she was opening the door, she heard a loud dig, as the elevator reached the top floor once again. She sighed and made her way back into the bedroom, on her way out to the living room.

She stood in the doorway to the living room, leaning against the frame, as John flew into the room, the emerald glow around his body disappearing as he lowered himself to the floor. He hadn't noticed her yet, rather he looked at Wally and asked in a worried voice, "You okay kid?"

Wally, still giddy with whatever Alfred had slipped him said joyfully, "Look, GL! I'm holey! Get it?" He stuck out his bandaged leg as he spoke.

John rolled his eyes and said, "Well, J'onn's going to stitch you up."

"Pain meds?" Wally asked happily.

"Oh, yeah. He might be a while, though. Obviously we couldn't park the Javelin in the city, so Bruce gave him the directions to a place to park it." John smiled.

Batman strolled in behind John, carrying two large bags of equipment. At least, that's what she assumed was in the large duffel bags. Both men were in uniform, but Batman had lowered his hood, revealing his tired face. He saw her immediately, and said, "I'm going to check you out while J'onn gets Wally sewn up."

As Bruce spoke, John's eyes shot up to make contact with her own. She couldn't quite read the emotions there. The corners around his eyes relaxed a little bit in relief, but his jaw tightened as if waiting for a fight. She guessed they fought often enough, that would be a logical reaction. Still, she thought he seemed… happy overall. He smiled at her, but didn't say anything quite yet.

"Okay." She sighed, "But there's pizza coming and I really need to get some food into my system. I haven't eaten since yesterday, and I'm starting to get a little dizzy."

Bruce's brows furrowed, "You shouldn't go so long without eating in your condition."

"Condition?" John frowned.

If looks could kill, the glare Shayera sent Bruce would have left him as nothing more than ashes on the floor. He looked at her innocently, but Bruce never did anything by accident. She turned back to John and placed a hand gently on her rounded stomach. The sweatshirt was large enough that it had hid her pregnancy fairly well, but the motion flattened the fabric so there was no mistaking the swell there. She watched John's eyes lower to her stomach and widen in shock. Even though she knew he understood, she said aloud, "I'm pregnant."

Turning back to Batman, she asked, "Can we have a minute first?"

He nodded and placed the bags on the kitchen counter. But before he could exit the room, John interrupted, "No. We don't need a minute."

He looked at her with anger in his eyes, "We'll talk, but you aren't in any condition to argue right now. You need to rest and get checked out. That is the first priority. Tomorrow, we'll talk, but right now, Bruce is going to take a look at…" He trailed off, motioning at her stomach. With that, he stalked out of the room.

Shayera stared after him as he disappeared. She could hear the elevator doors whooshing closed behind him and felt her heart sink. That was certainly not the reaction she had hoped for. She was prepared for yelling, disbelief, shock. But whatever had just happened….

John was never a quitter. She had never seen him walk away from something like that.

Bruce looked at her with regret and said, "Sorry."

"Damn it, Bruce." She ran her hands through her hair.

"Look, he was going to find out sooner or later. Who knows what Wally was going to say if you waited much longer." He pointed at the boy sitting on the couch, now half asleep.

"I was going to say that your condition was pigheadedness. I kinda forgot about the rest." He murmured sleepily.

She sighed, "Let's just look at the baby. I'll feel better once I hear his heartbeat."

Bruce nodded. He grabbed the bags he sat down in one hand and walked over to the bedroom to set everything up. She stepped backwards, giving him room to enter. As he walked in, he stopped and put his hand on her shoulder. He whispered so that Flash wouldn't hear, "If nothing else, I've got your back on this. Okay?"

She nodded with a slight smile, "Yes. But try to help me out like that again, and I'll punch you into next week."

"Understood." He agreed.


	18. Chapter 18

Wally had finally fallen asleep. It was nearly midnight, and J'onn had finished stitching him up a few hours ago. The Martian had started a drip with powerful pain medications for the young man while he repaired the damage to Wally's leg, but the medicine still hadn't been strong enough to stop him from feeling at least something. Shayera had held his hand while J'onn worked as quickly as he could. Even though he had tried to tough it out, Shayera still felt a twinge of pity for him every time he winced or let out a whimper of pain. He had only squeezed her hand once or twice, but she had known that must have taken major effort on Wally's part. Finally, after what had seemed like forever, his wounds had been sewn shut.

While Wally healed faster than almost anyone else, J'onn had thought it best to let him rest a while. They had propped his leg up and let him sit up in the bed for a while. Still, after everything, Wally hadn't been tired. So, she had turned down the lights and put on the television to find something that amused him. After a while, Wally had seen a sitcom he liked, and they had sat and watched it together.

They both sat so they were leaning against the headboard and despite not usually liking Wally's choices in shows, she found herself enjoying it. After the first show ended, they watched the next one, both laughing at the ridiculous situations the characters found themselves in. J'onn had eventually decided to join them, sitting in one of the arm chairs by the windows. It had taken several several hours, but J'onn had slowly started to doze off. Wally, on the other hand, remained awake for a little longer before Shayera had suddenly felt his head drop to her shoulder. She turned to see that he was completely and utterly out of it.

She hadn't wanted to wake him, so she had lowered the volume of the show, but continued to watch. After a little while longer, she once again had to go to the bathroom, so she had carefully lifted his head and lowered her friend so he was laying on his side. Then, she took the soft blanket she had been wrapped in and tucked it gently around him so he remained warm.

A few minutes later, she found Bruce in a sweater and jeans working on a laptop in the living room. He had been working all evening, so she sat down on the couch opposite of him and asked, "Any progress?"

"On what?" He asked.

She frowned, "Whatever you're working on."

He nodded, "Right now I'm trying to figure out who blew up my house."

"Bruce… there was something weird about these guys." She shook her head slightly.

Finally, he looked up from his work with a strange expression, "Why do you say that?"

He saw Shayera's brows knit together in thought. It was odd to see her so thoughtful about something when usually she just said the first thing that came to mind. She quickly settled on, "It was what they wanted more than anything. There was a moment when Wally and I were separated, and there was a man who was going to try to stab me. And then someone shouted at him not to hurt me. They wanted me alive. Which is strange because every other time something like this has happened, they seemed to have no restraint."

Understanding dawned on him, "They wanted to capture you."

She nodded, "Why would they want that?"

Shaking his head, Bruce sat back and stared at the ceiling for several minutes, "I have no idea."

Shayera changed the subject to something lighter, "How long do you think we're going to be here?"

"Not long." Bruce said shortly.

Sarcastically, she bit out, "Wanna clarify there?"

"You're not going to like it."

She crossed her legs and watched him carefully. Like always, he never squirmed under the weight of her stare, but she was certainly wearing down his resolve. Eventually, he said simply, "The other founders and I had a meeting tonight as to your predicament. We voted unanimously that you be moved to the Watchtower as quickly as possible."

"What?" She stood up, "I said that's exactly what I didn't want."

"Oh, trust me. I know." Bruce rolled his eyes.

"Bruce! The League has been marred in controversy since the invasion. Anyone can tell you that the absolute best thing to do is for everyone to distance themselves from me as much as possible. If it were to get out into the media that I'm not only being protected by the League, but being kept in their head quarters, do you understand how bad this would look for you?" She yelled.

"Of course I understand." He said in a dangerous tone.

"Then why would you risk this?" She threw up one hand in a dismissive gesture.

"Do you know what would happen to the others if something happened to you?" Bruce stood up and yelled at her. His face was just a touch red, and his eyes had a fire in them that only came out when the hero was genuinely angered.

Shayera stopped in shock, and he continued at a quick pace, "You do understand that everyone still cares about you, right? So then what about Wally? You die, and I don't want to know how that kid changes. I don't want to have to be the one to tell him and permanently wipe the joy from his face. And what about J'onn and Superman? Hell, they might be mad at you, but they still would do everything in their power to keep you safe. And then there's John? Are you really going to break his heart again by getting yourself and his child killed?" He was out of breath by the time he finished, "This is a risk I am ready and willing to take. So get over yourself."

Tears had started to spring to the corner of her eyes at the sound of John's name, but Shayera fought to keep herself composed, "You all feel that strongly about this?"

Bruce sat down and put his fingers to his keyboard again. Not looking up, he responded shortly, "Yes."

"Fine." She said in defeat. "When do you plan on taking me up there?"

"The kid gets to sleep for a little while longer. But I would like to do it tonight. Traveling under the shadow of night will make it less likely for anyone to see you, and it will give anyone tracking you less time to catch up. Can you be ready in hour?"

She rolled her eyes, "Everything I currently own is on my body, Bruce."

He smiled at her slightly and joked, "Actually, that sweater is mine."

Her laugh rang out gently, "Consider it a bribe for my compliance. After all, how else are you going to explain to the team how you convinced me to come along so easily?"

"Fine." He let out an exasperated breath, "But you're the one who has to deal with Diana."

She giggled once more, "Do you really think that the princess will be jealous of me? Don't ever let her hear you undermine her self-confidence like that or she will personally drop a building on you. She is threatened by no one."

"I'm not a fan of either of you right now." He tossed back.

Appreciating the humor that he was exuding, even though she had literally just gotten his house burned to the ground, Shayera said, "Thanks for having my back."

He nodded, "Sorry that it's not more to your liking."

She smiled, "We check each other's bullshit. You're just doing what has to be done."

Finally, he closed his computer and motioned to the bedroom where Wally slept, "You want to get the kid ready to go home?"

Feeling a little excited for the first time, she agreed.


	19. Chapter 19

After much arguing, Shayera had made Bruce promise her that no one would be waiting for them when she came to the Watchtower. She hadn't wanted to be there in the first place, and she was certainly not ready to handle everyone after such a long day. Diana and the others' reactions to her return worried her more than Bruce and Wally's.

Once Shayera and Bruce had finished talking, they had practically carried Wally to the car, driven with J'onn back to the Javelin, and taken the short journey up to the new Watchtower. It was quite amazing to see. It was so much different than the last one, much bigger, and in a way, lighter. And there was so much activity! When it was just the seven of them, the Watchtower was often quiet, but there were several ships entering and leaving as they arrived. She had known they were expanding, but this was a much larger operation than she had imagined. They landed without much of a fuss, and Bruce offered to show her to her quarters. Wally had fallen asleep in his seat, and much like the old days, they had just decided to leave him where he was. J'onn had promised to check on him in the morning anyway.

The room Bruce had prepared was quite generic. It was much the size of her old room, which was spacious enough for a large bed, desk, closet, and open floor space if she wanted to workout in her room. There was also an attached bathroom so she wouldn't have to use the locker rooms with the other heroes. However, there was nothing hung on the wall, and everything seemed to her to be varying shades of grey, with only touches of navy or white thrown in. It was livable, although cold.

"Thanks, Bruce. It'll do." She sighed.

He nodded, "From what I understand, there are a few clothes for you, but not many. I'll get you a computer tomorrow so you can at least do some online shopping for yourself. The kitchen is down the hall and is fully stocked. You can help yourself to anything you would like. There are also some crackers in one of your drawers, if you prefer."

"I think I'm just going to crash. All of the energy I had suddenly just disappeared." She said sleepily.

"I'll leave you to it then. In the morning, J'onn's going to stop by and get you for your appointment. Don't forget. It's important." He stressed.

"I know. I know." She assured.

"Okay," he seemed satisfied, "Goodnight."

"Goodnight." She smiled as he closed the door. She quickly slid off her jeans and crawled into her bed. Although she had to lay on her side, which was far from comfortable anymore, she fell asleep within a few seconds.

* * *

Several hours later, Shayera awoke surrounded by darkness. Her heart stopped for a moment in horror as she tried to place her surroundings. The soft materials around her felt unfamiliar, although the ache in her back had become second nature. The light was so dim within the room that it was difficult, if not nearly impossible to make out the shapes of the furniture in the room. She quickly settled down as she remembered she was in the Watchtower, but the momentary shot of adrenalin was enough to wake her up.

Stumbling in the dark, she found the light switch after a moment. In her old room, it had been beside her bed, but in this room, it was located next to her door. Just another of the many things that had changed since she had returned. Once she turned the light on, she looked around her empty room once more, trying to get adjusted to her new surroundings. Still, nothing about the space felt homey to her. J'onn probably wouldn't be here for a while, and she really didn't want to remain in the room any longer than she already had. Finally, she decided that she wanted to go up to one of the watch decks on the top floor. The old tower had some, and this one probably would too.

After rummaging around in the clothes that were in her closet as Bruce had promised her, she put on a clean pair of skinny jeans and another sweater that she had found. Unfortunately, this one was tighter than Bruce's, and it clung to her skin, accenting her pregnancy in a way that she wasn't sure she liked. She wasn't certain of how many people in the tower knew she was having a baby, and while she wasn't ashamed of her situation, she didn't want to broadcast it before John was ready. He had enough on his plate without adding the stress of everyone else talking about it.

Luckily, it was fairly quiet in the halls, and she was able to slip into the stairwell without anyone noticing her. From there, she was able to make it all the way up to the floor she desired without worrying about anyone. The only person who consistently took the stairs was Wally and since he probably wasn't up to running quite yet, she had didn't think anyone would be there. Even superheroes preferred the elevator.

It took her a little longer than she cared to admit, but she did make it to the upper floors. Heaving with the effort it had taken her to drag her extra weight up all that way, she opened the door to one of the observation decks. Like she expected, no one was there. Most of the heroes didn't take the time to relax there even though it was beautiful up there.

The deck stretched in a large semi circle, looking out over the beautiful and peacefully spinning Earth. The sun sparkled off of one side, showing off the vibrant greens of the forests and the the deep blues of the deepest oceans below. On the other side, the light faded into dark shadows, almost as if pulling Earth into the darkness. Grey clouds swirled over some areas like dancers, circling into each other with elegant limbs stretching out in graceful motions. Everything moved so slowly, it almost seemed as if the planet was standing still, at perfect peace trapped constantly between light and darkness. She didn't know how long she stood there, staring at the planet that had become her home. It could have been minutes or hours.

"You always liked to come up here to think." A voice murmured softly behind her.

She spun around to see John standing only a few feet behind her in his Green Lantern uniform. One of her hands had flown protectively to her stomach, which he saw immediately. Without thinking, she lowered her hand and said, "You don't usually sneak up on people like that."

He cocked his head to the side and said in a way he didn't mean to be snide, "The intention wasn't to startle you. Guess you're just a little less observant than usual."

No matter his intentions, she glared at him, "Is that supposed to be an insult?"

He sighed, "Seriously? We're going to start this already?"

"Well, isn't that why you're here? You said we were going to fight later so we might as well get on with it then, shouldn't we?" She put her hands on her hips and then motioned him on sarcastically with one hand, "So please. Proceed."

"Why can you never avoid picking a fight?" He threw up his hands.

"I am not picking this fight. Your exact words to me were 'you aren't in any condition to argue right now.' Obviously you want to fight. I'd rather just get it out of the way."

"This is not the time or the place!" He insisted.

"Say what you want to say!" She yelled.

"No. We're not doing this-"

She cut him off by screaming, "Just say it!"

"Fine!" He yelled back, "Do you seriously expect me to just believe this is my baby? That you don't talk to me for months, don't contact me after you got back together with your _fiance_ who tried to _annihilate the planet_ and then show up pregnant? Am I just supposed to take your word on this?"

His words only riled her up more. She had gone from annoyed and hurt to enraged in a matter of seconds. Her cheeks were flushed red and her mouth twisted into a pained and angered scowl. In response, she yelled back, "I was being chased across the world by freaking bounty hunters, and you're mad that I didn't CALL? Excuse me if I had more pressing obligations than reassuring you of my feelings!"

"You know that doesn't bother me as much as your very murderous boyfriend!" He tossed back.

"EX-FIANCE!" She screeched.

"Great distinction!" He laughed dryly.

"Seriously, John. You think that this is something I would lie about? That I have any desire to make things more complicated than they already are between us?" She laughed in exasperation, "I get that you hate me. Believe me, I understand that. But I would not lie about something like this. There is not a single part of me that wanted to tell you this information because I knew how you would react!"

"THEN WHY DID YOU?" He bellowed

"HAVEN'T I LIED TO YOU ENOUGH!" She screamed at the top of her lungs.

Silence hung between them for a minute. The only noises in the empty cavern where their heaving breathing. They stared at each other, John shocked, with touches of confusion coloring his face, and Shayera's expression marred with pain and weariness. Finally, she turned around and walked a few steps closer to the window, continuing to look at the Earth as if he wasn't there.

He swallowed and asked, "Why didn't you call me first? Instead of Wally?"

She was silent so long, he didn't think she would answer his question. From where he was standing, he could see her back was stiff and unresponsive. Finally, she responded to him. Her voice broke as she whispered, "I just needed one person who would be happy to see me, you know?"

A few beats passed. Even though she couldn't see him, he nodded.

Not even a minute later, Shayera said in a weak voice, "John...I don't feel well."

Immediately, he moved so that he was standing right next to her. He gripped her shoulders and turned her so that she was facing him, supporting her as much as he knew she would allow. Her face, which had been bright a minute ago was pale and sweaty. Usually, her emerald eyes sparkled with fire and spunk, but they were glassy and faded as he stared into them.

He placed two fingers in the nook between her chin and neck, checking her heartbeat. Sure enough, it was racing at a pace that was unusual, even for her alien physiology, which typically kept the rate at a much faster speed than his. He placed his hand firmly back on her shoulder and said, "You're heart is racing. We need to get you to the infirmary right now."

She nodded. He attempted to slip an arm around her waist, but she pushed him away. What was worse, he saw her flinch at his touch, forcing him to acknowledge how deeply he had hurt her with his words. Instead of letting him help her, she said, "I can make it there myself."

Turning her back to him coldly, she took one, then two steps. On the third, however, her foot wavered and her knees gave way. John wrapped his strong arms around her as the floor rushed up to her. He stopped her descent but the room was still spinning around Shayera. She could hear his voice ringing around her head, with calls of her name, but she was just too weak to respond. Blackness framed the outside of her vision, and as she laid in John's hold, it overtook her sight and she fell into the abyss of unconsciousness.


	20. Chapter 20

John didn't pray often, but at that moment, he was praying. After he had rushed Shayera to the infirmary, J'onn and Batman wouldn't let him see her. He had refused to leave, but unfortunately for him, Bruce had called Superman down from monitor duty. The Man of Steel had forced him to wait outside in one of the chairs that lined the hallway. John had hoped Clark would leave him, but instead his friend had sat opposite of him, watching him carefully in case John had decided to try and go back inside.

So, he had sat and silently thought words his grandmother had taught him decades before. It certainly wasn't something eloquent or well formed, but it was something. He sat with elbows on his knees and looked down, not bothering to fold his hands. Clark continued to keep watch over him quietly. They sat that way for well over an hour, before J'onn came out to talk to the two of them.

John stood immediately when he saw the Martian come through the steel doors. Superman slowly followed suit as J'onn walked over to brief them. His brow was furrowed in stress, as he addressed John. He spoke seriously, "Hawkgirl's condition is stable, but she is deeply exhausted. This is not only the result of this week's incidents, but something that has been building up since the invasion. From what I understand, she hasn't had a chance to settle in once place since she left us. It will take some time, but she should be fine. That being said, she is to experience no stress at all and she will remain on bed rest until I clear her."

"Bed rest?" John said in surprise, "How are you going to get her to agree to that?"

J'onn sent him a quieting stare, "She will do as I say if it means assuring the health of her child."

John frowned, "Is the baby okay?"

J'onn nodded, "Yes. But that is unlikely to be the case if her health does not improve soon. She can take the stress, but it is the pregnancy which makes her case so serious. Her body cannot take the pressure she is currently handling and support a growing child. Additionally, the little nutrition she has been receiving has largely gone to support her pregnancy. Shayera has agreed to this course of treatment for now."

John nodded and crossed his arms, "Can I see her?"

"No." The Martian said firmly.

"No?" He bellowed in shock.

"Absolutely not." J'onn was unyielding, "You appear to be a major source of her anxiety. Perhaps if you agree to be amiable, you can see her in a few days. Until then, only Batman, the Flash, and I are allowed to see her. That is final."

"This is ridiculous!" He yelled.

"Calm down, John." Superman turned towards him dangerously, "Or I will make sure you aren't even allowed on this floor if your arm is bent at a 45 degree angle."

John glared at him, "You are seriously okay with this?"

In a low voice, said so only John could hear him, Clark said, "I have super hearing, John. Don't think that I didn't hear the fight you two had. Shayera and I might not be on the best of terms, but you are delusional if you think I would let you go in there after that argument. She's not supposed to be under _any_ kind of stress, and I find that I don't particularly trust you right now."

John glared at him threateningly, but J'onn interjected, "I believe it best if you both return to your posts. There is much to be done today, and I would like to return to Shayera. If both of you care to do what's best, I would strongly urge you to do what I say."

"Fine." Superman said without breaking eye contact with John.

The Lantern continued to stare down the other hero for a moment. Every fiber of John's being was begging him to rush into the infirmary and see the woman who he had treated so abominably. To see the woman he loved, even if she didn't know how he felt. Yet, he knew deep down that J'onn was right. He had to do what was best for Shayera and not himself. So he nodded as well and said shortly, "Fine."

Superman nodded, but didn't move. John understood that his comrade was waiting for him to leave first. So, even though he hated to do so, John turned and started to head to the gym. If he didn't punch something soon, he was bound to burst from anger.

* * *

After he had worked off most of his energy in the gym, he headed to the locker room to change. Luckily, since it was the middle of the afternoon for most people, the changing area was empty, so John took a quick shower and enjoyed being alone. During the day, most of the heroes were on patrol or relaxing with their families. It wouldn't be until later that night that the gym would be filled with people. Which was good, because he didn't think he could handle dealing with anyone right then.

There were so many emotions coursing through his body, he felt like a rubber band about to snap. Shayera was mad with him. Clark was mad at him. Hell, he was mad at himself. He had thought of her constantly for the last several months and then she came back and he reacted horribly. Did he want to know about Hro Talak? Absolutely. But he knew that he should have just asked her about him rather than accusing her like he had. Shayera never did well with assumptions and demands.

"John, can we talk" He heard a feminine voice call from behind him. At the door of the locker room stood Mari. She was dressed in a pink sports bra and tight black pants, and he assumed that she was on her way to work out.

He nodded, "Sure."

She looked around the room and, having not seen anyone, walked in so as to stand next to him. He put his shirt on as if she weren't there. It wasn't with the intention of being rude, he was simply too tired to have any more talks that day. However, Mari had a different idea. She spoke in a calm voice, "We've always been honest with each other. So I need you to be honest with me now." She took a deep breath and continued, "Is Shayera pregnant?"

John froze. He wasn't sure if Shay was okay with people knowing or not. However, after the way he had rushed through the building to get her to J'onn this morning, he guessed that it was time to start telling people. Otherwise the gossip was just going to run rampant through the League since someone had to have seen him. Anyway, Mari had a right to an explanation. Slowly, he turned to her and said, "Yes, she is."

Her jaw dropped and she crossed her arms, "Excuse me? That wasn't the answer I was expecting so could you repeat that?"

He signed, "Yes. Shayera is pregnant. Before you ask, she's also staying here for the time being."

She closed her mouth and nodded slowly. A few expressions flashed across her face too fast for John to read any of them. He stood in silence as she sought to form another question. Eventually, she settled on, "Is the baby yours?"

He nodded, not trusting himself to speak.

She looked down for a moment, took a deep breath, looked up once again and asked, "When did you find out about this?"

He turned around to close the door to his locker. Turning back around, he answered, "I just found out yesterday. She's been having some troubles for the last couple of months that I would rather not get into detail about right now. Anyway, she was unable to make contact with the League, let alone me. I didn't know for the time we were together, if that's what you're worried about."

She frowned, "Are you sure the baby is yours?"

He growled, "Don't even ask that question, Mari."

"Fine." She pushed her bangs out of her face and said, "But I don't want there to be any misunderstandings within the League. Right now, only a few people know we broke up. I refuse to be the woman who got dumped for the former girlfriend who's pregnant, even if that's just what people think. It looks weak and creates more gossip than there needs to be."

He nodded, "Whatever you tell people is fine."

She started to leave, but stopped in the doorway. As she stood there, she fought with herself about whether or not to even ask the question. Still, if nothing else, they were former friends. She put her hand on the wall, turned and asked, "John. I know you technically don't owe me an explanation. But are you going to get back together with her?"

He sat down on one of the benches in the room. Putting his elbows on his knees, he admitted in a sad voice, "Right now I'm not even allowed to see her.'

She persisted, "Do you want to?"

He sighed, "You were right. After everything that's happened, I do still love her. But I think I might have burned a bridge with her. We fought, and I said some pretty unforgivable things. Who knows if she'll ever speak to me again. If I were her, I wouldn't."

She smiled sadly, "It's not like you to give up so easily."

He looked up in confusion, "Shouldn't you be angry right now?"

Frowning, she turned to look off into the distance for a second. After a moment, she turned to look at him again said, "I guess I should be. I would be lying if I said I wasn't hurting right now. But if she makes you happy, you need to make sure that she knows exactly how you feel. Earn her forgiveness. Meanwhile, I'm going to try to figure out what makes me happy. I hope this doesn't sound rude, but I know that you aren't the one for me. I get that now. So I'm going to go out and see who is. I think that I'm not angry because I'm just ready to take that next step in my life."

He nodded, "You deserve to."

She leaned her head against the doorway and said, "I don't think we can be friends for a while."

He agreed, "That makes sense."

"Goodbye, John." She smiled as she turned and left.

He stood up to go back to his room. Obviously, he had some work to do to win back Shayera, and it was time to get started.


	21. Chapter 21

"Hey, Wings. You feeling better?" Wally asked sweetly as waltzed casually into the infirmary. The limp he had been sporting the previous day was almost entirely gone thanks to his accelerated rate of healing, and he was back in his red uniform. It almost seemed as though he hadn't been shot at all, let alone twice.

Shayera, on the other hand, was lying in a hospital bed in the medical wing of the Watchtower, near the large windows overlooking Earth. Luckily, Bruce and J'onn had allowed her to change into a loose dress rather than one of those awful gowns that patients were generally forced to wear. It had a pattern in pale green and blue colors and thin straps to accommodate the needles and monitoring equipment that J'onn had insisted she remain hooked onto until the next day. She was propped up by a number of pillows which Bruce had brought for her comfort, knowing how much she had enjoyed them at the Wayne estate. Even though she had been relaxing and eating all day, she was still quite pale. Still, she smiled and responded, "I would be even better if they would let me out of this damn bed."

Wally grinned and jumped in the air, landing neatly cross legged at the end of Shayera's bed, careful to avoid her legs. He leaned back and joked, "I remember when they wouldn't let me out of bed. Oh, the horror of days past."

"Yesterday, Wally. You are talking about yesterday." She sighed indignantly.

He smiled, "The time is not important. Anyway, I just came to check on you and my god kid. Are both of you doing okay?"

She nodded, "They did an ultrasound earlier and everything is going well. The baby was healthy and has been kicking all afternoon to remind me. Apparently he has decided that rest is optional for him. I'm slowly going insane with boredom, though. How is it that there is nothing interesting to do here?"

Wally nodded in understanding.

Then, Shayera cocked her head to the side, "I don't understand the concept of this 'god-father' role, however. What exactly does it mean?"

Wally leaned over, reached under the bed, and pulled out a plastic container. He opened it to reveal a collection of chocolates and other candies. Shayera's eyes opened wide in surprise, especially because J'onn was strict about checking all food before it came into the infirmary. Since he regulated out almost all unhealthy foods, having the fattening things that Wally had hidden would be a treat. He smiled conspiratorially and said, "This is the bed I usually get if I'm in here. I was sick of the stick up J'onn's butt when it comes to food. So, I snuck this in here a while ago. To be honest, I'm surprised he hasn't noticed yet, but I don't think it's occurred to him that anyone would do this."

He offered her a chocolate, which she happily took. Then, after grabbing a stick of licorice, he continued, "Anyway, as God-Father, I would be entitled to raising your kid if anything were to happen to you and John. Now, before you say anything, remember that you don't want your kid to grow up to be as much of a dick as Bruce, as self-centered as Princess, as goodie two shoes as Supes, or as weird as J'onn. That means I win by default. Also, it means that I get to play a key part in raising your kid - which I was going to do anyway. You might as well just make it official that I'm your second in command with this kid. It'll avoid Superman from trying to move it and make the kid a mini-Krypton."

She frowned, "I've never really considered what would take place if something happened to me until today. Humans have some type of procedure for such a situation, isn't that correct?"

Wally looked confused, "Yeah. I guess you could make a will." Then he rolled his eyes, "But naming me God-Father is way easier. Just saying."

"Wally, I need to make one of those. Do you know how?" She insisted.

Her face had once again grown deathly pale. Her eyes were glazed over with fear and she pushed her hair out of her face as she searched around her for a pen. Wally realized immediately that she was growing tense again. Reaching for one of her hands, he asked, "Shay, are you okay?"

"No. I _need_ to have instructions for if something were to happen." She said nervously.

"Okay," Wally said serious, "But there's something more to this than just that. I can see it in your eyes. What aren't you saying?"

"John doesn't believe me." She said simply

"What do you mean John doesn't believe you? Did he say something to you before you got here? I know Clark said you got into a disagreement, but I didn't know it was that bad." Wally leaned forward in anticipation of what she would say.

She ran one shaky hand through her messy hair, "He told me he doesn't think he's the baby's father, which I can understand considering I was engaged. But when I tried to explain, he refused to listen me."

"He what?" Wally shouted.

She turned to him with a look that was utterly petrified. Quietly, she whispered in fear, "I have to have a plan, Wally. If something happened to me... I thought I would have time to make John see. To make him understand. But what if he never does? If he never really accepts that he is the father of this child? What if it's just me doing all of this? I could leave this baby all alone and then what? Who takes care of him? Who takes him to school and teaches him to fly and makes sure he knows right from wrong? He could be _all alone._ "

"Shay." Wally tried to stop her, but she kept speaking so quickly he almost couldn't keep up with her.

"What have I done? He could be all by himself in this world. I can't just leave him with nothing." Her voice was quiet, yet clearly quite pained. To stop her, Wally leaned forward and put his hands on either side of her face. She stopped almost instantly and looked him in the eyes. Her distress was written in the tears he could see her trying to hold back. The Shayera he knew almost never cried.

Firmly, he said, "Shay, listen to me. I'm serious about taking this kid if you need me to. You're baby will never be alone - I'll make sure of it. Hell, we all will. Whatever John decides doesn't matter. I'll feed the kid and take him or her to school. Promise, I'll tell it a story every night and make sure that there is never anything to fear. I'll let Superman teach him right from wrong. I'm sure that at least some of his savior complex will rub off on the little guy. Bats will teach him to fly. Don't ask me how, but he'll figure something out. He always does. And Linda will make up for whatever we can't. I've got a plan. I've got this covered. So take a breath and calm down." He lowered his hands so that he was gripping her upper arms instead. He could feel her shaking slightly as he did.

She breathed out a huge sigh of relief, "Promise? That you'll really take him?"

"Of course. Now, will you calm down?" He smiled.

She nodded, but as she did so, a small sob broke out of her mouth. Leaning forward, she practically fell into Wally's arms and he held her tightly. Even though she was silent, he knew that she was crying just a little. _Tough until the very end, trying to hold back her tears_ , he thought to himself. He could feel the sobs she was holding in as she continued to shake in his arms. Finally, she spoke into his arm, "What if he never comes back?"

"Then he can go fuck himself. We _will_ figure this out." He assured her.

She leaned back and quickly swiped away the wetness on her face. Nodding that she was feeling better, she took a deep breath to compose herself. Finally, she asked, "Do you know how to make one of these wills?"

He frowned, "Bruce helped me make mine. I can ask him to stop by tomorrow and we can figure something out."

"I'll feel much better once everything is sorted out." She promised him, "Today just made everything feel so real. I'm actually having this baby, even if I have nothing ready. Even if I'm not ready. But he _deserves_ for me to be ready."

"We take this one step at a time." Wally said, "First, we get you healthy. Then, we work out how this is going to go."

"You're right. The only thing to do is to take action, not to get overwhelmed." She said almost to reassure herself.

"Hey," He stopped her, "It's okay to cry, you know."

"I don't cry." She glared at him. It was almost funny how fast she could go from distraught to annoyed. This pregnancy was inducing serious mood swings.

He rolled his eyes and laughed to himself, "Okay, so that was…"

"Hormones." She gave him a death glare, "And if you ever speak to anyone about what just happened, I don't care how good of friends we are, I will slowly rip you apart piece by piece into bits so small, no one would know the difference between you and a speck of dust."

He stood up quickly and backed away jokingly, "Maybe I need to talk to Bruce myself first. My will might need to be updated urgently."

Shayera sighed, "Only if you don't learn to keep your lips shut."

He laughed, "No one would believe me anyway. Next time I'll get photographic evidence."

She rolled her eyes again. However, she spoke in a serious tone as she said, "Thanks for everything, Wally."

Stopping where he was, he promised, "Anytime."

Then, he realized, "Wait. Is today Saturday?"

She frowned, "I think so."

"Shit!" He looked alarmed, "Linda and I have reservations for dinner tonight. Gotta run!" He scurried out of the room in a flash of red she barely had a chance to see.

Sighing, she decided it was time for bed.


	22. Chapter 22

"John, I need you in the Founder's Room in five minutes. Do you understand?" Batman's voice called through John's earpiece. Luckily, the Lantern hadn't actually been sleeping, he had simply been laying in bed, hoping against the odds that he could get any amount of rest. Instead, he had been considering the implications of what he was going to do about Shayera and the baby.

He had accepted that there was a strong possibility that he was going to be a father in a couple of months. It would change his whole world, either way. Either the woman he loved was having someone else's child or he was going to be a father. A baby would need constant attention. When he and Shayera had dated, he had briefly considered the idea of a future with her, one that involved children, and he had worried about all the potential complications of a combination of human and Thanagarian DNA. Would the child be closer to Shayera or him genetically? Would the baby even be okay? Was it healthy? These were the questions he should have asked her before he yelled at her. Now he was left hoping that everything was fine with the two of them.

Then there was the fact that assuming everything went correctly, there would be another human being reliant on him before long. He lived in a two bedroom apartment, making things manageable. Still, a child needed space, and his apartment would be cramped with three people. Three people, assuming Shayera agreed to let him anywhere near her and their kid. Then there were the bigger questions of how the two of them could possibly parent a child together. Most couples had nine months to figure things out. They had less than four, guesstimating from what he knew of pregnant women, which wasn't much. And they currently weren't on the best of terms to say the least.

In addition to all of that, someone was hunting the mother of his future child. It was all just a big mess. He had laid in the dark for over an hour already, considering all of the possible outcomes imaginable. His pessimistic side wasn't helping to make him feel any better.

"John. Wake up and haul your ass to the Founder's Room now." Batman repeated.

Suddenly pulled back into the real world, he pressed his earpiece and said, "Copy that.'

He pushed the covers off of him and reached for his ring on the nightstand. At once, he was surrounded by a green light and dressed in his Green Lantern uniform. Bruce often called Founders meetings, but usually not at this time at night unless it was an emergency. He certainly hoped it wasn't something that would require his extended absence. Even if he couldn't visit Shayera, he wished to remain close in case J'onn changed his mind and allowed him to see her. With that in mind, John quickly headed to the top floor to see what the Dark Knight required of them all.

* * *

He was the last to arrive, which was unusual. Almost exclusively, Wally was the last one to show up to any meeting with the six of them. If not him, it was Bruce, not because the hero was slow but because he was so busy that something important would often be impeding his ability to get to the council on time. Superman also occasionally would get stuck somewhere and come in late, but it was never John.

Still, he walked in last and took his seat quietly. He looked around slowly to gage the reaction of the others to his presence. Superman still appeared annoyed with him from earlier, not that he had expected any different from him. The hero's brow was slightly furrowed, as he was trying to hide his emotion, but like he did so often, failing. J'onn and Diana appeared indifferent. Bruce seemed preoccupied with organizing information on his tablet for what he assumed would be a presentation to the group. What really surprised him was the death stare he received from Wally.

The kid was sitting opposite of him, looking angrier than he thought his friend was capable of being. His green eyes had a fire behind them and his jaw was set tightly in frustration. Also, he could see the fist the Flash was not settling his chin on was flexing and relaxing in a rhythm consistent with trying not to punch someone. And from the looks the speedster was giving him, John was that someone.

At that moment, Bruce spoke in an authoritative voice, "I have called you all here tonight because I believe that I have a lead on who is after Hawkgirl."

Diana spoke in surprise, "I thought we had already determined it was bounty hunters."

Nodding, Bruce continued, "It is. However, after the attack on Flash and Shayera at the Wayne Estate, she mentioned something interesting. One of the attackers said not to hurt her. That they wanted her alive."

"So, they want to capture her and then kill her. Does it really matter? Either way she needs our protection." Superman inserted. He crossed his arms, set in his thinking. John appreciated the support, even though he knew Bruce must have more new information for the group than that. Sure enough, he was correct.

Bruce countered, "It matters greatly because this is a huge change in their pattern. Every other attempt Shayera mentioned was focused on her death, not her capture which means one of two things. Either the goals of her attackers have changed and they seek to now bring her back to their planet or there are two different groups of people after her - one set on her demise and one who wishes to capture her for unknown purposes. From what I've learned thus far, my bet would be the second."

"For what purpose do you suppose they could want to apprehend her? Could they simply be attempting to bring her to trial for her crimes?" J'onn asked.

Batman shook his head, "I doubt it. There are few states who would authorize these mercenaries, even in this unique circumstance. Plus, the resources it would require to hunt as good of a fugitive as Hawkgirl are only held by a handful of people in the world. People it would take a great deal of money to hire. My bet would be that a private actor hired a group of trained huntsmen to capture her for scientific purposes. Shayera is a valuable specimen that many labs showed interest in studying before the invasion. The potential opportunity to study not only her, but her child might be tempting enough for some companies or individuals to use illegal means to bring her to their facilities. It would not be the first time that a wealthy businessman took things too far." Bruce looked pointedly at Superman, indicating he was talking about Lex Luthor. Clark nodded in understanding.

Bruce continued, "I propose the rest of the investigation be conducted as that of two separate criminal groups. The first, the off world bounty hunters, which I have already made significant progress on. The second, these unknown stalkers."

Wally nodded, "I would support that."

The others nodded their agreement, even John. If there was one person who knew how to conduct an investigation, it was Bruce, and they all trusted him to do so.

"With that, I have a list of names." Bruce said, "It is far from all of those who are after Hawkgirl. However, it is a start. There are eight total, so I propose sending out two teams of two - one of Superman and I, the other of Diana and the Flash - accompanied by a team of other members to pick up four culprits each. We can begin tonight, as I believe I have their current locations, although they are constantly moving so we might have to adjust as we work. However, this will help me clear up some of the communication channels in order to detect more of them."

Diana nodded, "We should get started. I can have my team ready within half an hour to begin work."

Clark assured, "We can do the same. I would like to see this done quickly."

They all agreed. J'onn would stay behind to monitor the infirmary, in case Shayera's condition changed or any further injuries came in. John was not mentioned, but he was sure that due to his personal relationship with Shay, no one would want him anywhere near these criminals. For once, he was okay with not going on a mission. He needed to be here in case she wanted him.

J'onn left first, anxious to get back to the infirmary. The other four filed out one at a time with Wally falling to the back of the line. Knowing he would live to regret it, John called, "Flash, can we talk?"

Wally was only too happy to oblige.


	23. Chapter 23

Hey, everyone! I'm sorry that I haven't updated this in quite a while. It' been crazy the last two weeks as I have finals coming up. Thus, instead of writing, I have been pulling all nighters preparing semester long projects in the course of 24 hours. Hopefully, after the next week, I will be writing much more regularly. Until then, here is this tidbit. Enjoy! And please leave comments! I love hearing from you all!

* * *

Wally turned to face him with opposition written across his masked face. The kid was usually so relaxed and carefree, it was strange to see him this way. His shoulders were tight with anger and his chin set, like he was about to get into a fight. None of the others bothered to give a backwards glance, which was probably for the best. John took a second to prepare himself and asked, "How is she?"

"Wouldn't you love to know?" Wally rolled his eyes.

"I'm serious. The last time I saw her she was unconscious, and no one is letting me see that she's okay. So I need to hear it from you!" John insisted.

"Yeah?" Wally asked sarcastically, "Well, she needed a lot from you that she didn't get. Time to explain. Someone to lean on. A person to give a shit about how her health and that of your kid's. All things considered, I think waiting a few days to see her is a hell of a lot better than the position you left her in."

"How did I leave her?" John asked genuinely as he crossed his arms.

"Freaking the fuck out, John!" Wally yelled, "She's upstairs wondering if you're ever going to come around and trying to figure out how to do all of this alone in case you don't. And she's terrified. What if something happens to the baby? What if something happens to her? She's in her room right now making a will in case she dies and you won't take your kid. That's how you left her."

"Shit." John sat down again in horror. He had hoped that she would actually be resting even though he had known it would be difficult. It appeared that like always, she never did as she was told. He rubbed his hands over his short hair in worry and said, "I need to see her."

Wally left out a single, ironic laugh, "Like I would let you do that."

"Wally, I need to explain some things to her." He yelled and stood again. His eyes glowed a threatening shade of green, but Wally didn't step back.

Instead the kid crossed his arms and asked, "Like what?"

John started listen items off on his fingers, "That I need for her to be okay because whether or not I like it, I do have feelings for her. That I'm never going to let anyone hurt her. And that we're going to figure all of this out together, so she needs to relax and focus on her health." He tossed his hand through the air as he continued, "Yes, I reacted badly, and you have no idea how much I regret it. But nothing is going to get better unless you give me a chance to apologize and make it up to her.'

Glaring at him in consideration, Wally said, "You have to swear to me you won't hurt her again."

"I swear." John said quickly without hesitation.

Wally hesitated, obviously worried that John was just manipulating the situation to harm Shayera again. John held his friend's gaze, hoping that Wally would give him one more chance. If not for him, for Shayera. Finally, Wally nodded solemnly, "Fine. I'll help you."

* * *

It was morning, and like always, Shayera was nauseous. Like every other morning, she laid in bed, trying to relax but failing. Part of her wanted to eat every sweet she knew was within arms reach, but a much bigger part of her never wanted to eat anything ever again. She was wallowing in self pity when she heard the doors to the infirmary open. Expecting Wally to be bringing her breakfast again, she pushed herself up awkwardly to turn towards the door. In an exasperated voice, she began, "Wally, it's still too early for-"

The sight of John standing in his uniform stopped her. Her eyes grew wide in surprise, but she didn't say anything. After a moment, he uncomfortably asked, "Can we talk?"

She nodded and shakily said, "Okay."

He crossed the room to sit on the foot of her bed. She moved her feet for him, but he remained perched on the edge, as if he was worried about invading her space and offending her. Meanwhile, she pulled her legs up and sat up as straight as her mountain of pillows would allow. While John didn't seem like he was going to be hostile, she didn't trust him to be particularly accommodating either.

They were silent for a few minutes, both sizing the other up. Finally, Shayera broke the quiet, "What would you like to talk about?"

John cleared his throat, looked her in the eye, and said plainly, "I'm sorry.

She blinked in surprise, but waited for him to continued. He nodded, seeing that she was not going to speak to him quite yet, and went on, "I shouldn't have spoken to you the way I did. It was out of line and not how the two of us are. So, I'm here now. And I promise I'm going to listen to what you have to say and I'm going to believe what you have to say because...I do trust you."

She crossed her arms with a look of cautious belief on her face and said, "Ask your questions."

He sighed, "Is this my baby?"

"Yes." She said firmly.

He nodded, "This isn't me doubting you, but I have to ask. You're sure it's not Hro's?"

Shayera blushed and looked down, "Yes. Hro and I didn't…."

He frowned, "Really?"

The glare she sent his way silenced him instantly, "Yes really. The two of us might have been promised to one another, but engagements on Thanagar aren't made in the same way as they are on Earth. They are based not on attraction and feelings but on military status and social advancements both parties seek to make. Do you really think that I would leave you and without haste enter into the same kind of relationship with another person? We had feelings for each other that Hro and I simply did not have."

He sighed, "Shayera, I would have understood if you had."

"Well, I wouldn't have." She said stubbornly. He was quiet for a second and so she prompted him, "Please, continue."

"Fine." He shook his head slightly at her cold demeanor, "When did you find out you were pregnant?"

"About two months ago." She rubbed the swell of her stomach absentmindedly as she remembered the day, "I had suspected for a while. The nausea, tiredness, and everything else was starting to add up. But I was on the run and I was hoping I was just misreading the signs. Eventually, I stole a pregnancy test from a store I hid out in for a night. I wasn't surprised when it came back positive."

"So you're…?" He motioned to her stomach awkwardly.

She smiled slightly and said, "I'm somewhere between five and six months pregnant. I've gotten a couple of ultrasounds since coming in, but J'onn's usually just checking to make sure everything is okay for the time being because he's trying to focus on my health instead of the baby's. He's promised he would take a detailed look tomorrow though."

He coughed and asked, "Can I come?"

"Do you want to?" She asked nervously.

That's when he realized the full extent of how much he had hurt her. He had finally told her that he believed her when she said they were having a child together. Yet, she still doubted he even wanted to be involved with the two of them. He had made her question her worth to him, and that was unacceptable. He reached out and took one of her small hands in his. It was more callosed than it had been, worn with months of fighting, moving, and covering her tracks, yet it still fit in his just the way he remembered. Slowly, he started rubbing circles on the back of her knuckles and said, "I want to come very much."

Looking into eyes the color of forests on rainy afternoons, he said truthfully, "You and this baby mean the world to me. Even though I haven't done a good job of showing it, I want to figure this out. I know that neither of us exactly trust the other right now, but I'm willing to take a leap of faith and give this a shot if you are. In fact, I'm begging you to give the three of us a chance to be together."

She gave him a heartbroken look, "John, you don't have to do that. I know that you've moved on."

"What?" He asked in surprise.

"I know that you're dating someone, and I don't expect you to end that just because I've suddenly come back and told you that I'm having a baby. This might be a strange situation, but I can do this just fine on my own. If you're with someone, I'm not going to be the reason you end things." Even as weak as she was, she still looked utterly determined.

John gawked, "Mari and I broke up before I even knew about the baby."

She rolled her eyes, "Sure, John."

He glared at her, "I get it. Generally, I'm the guy who does the right thing. But this isn't one of those things. Mari thought I had feelings for you as soon as the team was informed you were in danger. She told me flat out that she thought our relationship was just a substitute for what I couldn't have with you and left."

Shayera bit her lip and asked, "Was she right?"

John sighed, but said honestly, "Yeah."

Nodding seriously, she said, "Fine."

"Fine?" He asked, confused as to what exactly they were agreeing upon.

She crossed her arms, "One leap of faith. If that's what you want."

"It is." He said with complete confidence.

"Okay." She agreed with a yawn.

Realizing he was keeping her up, John stood up and said, "You should be getting some rest."

She frowned but leaned back, "I haven't been sleeping well."

He hesitated. Without thinking for more than a second, he turned back to her and asked, "Do you want me to sit with you? Just until you fall asleep that is?"

Her brows raised slightly in surprise but stuttered, "If you want to."

He looked around the room and noticed a newspaper sitting on her nightstand. It was folded neatly, as if it hadn't been opened. He reached for it as he said, "I'll just take a glance at this. Need to catch up on what's going on in the world anyway. Do you want me to read it aloud?"

"Sure." Shayera tried to say in a relaxed voice. Secretly, she wanted to hear his voice more than she was willing to admit to even herself.

He back at the foot of her bed and began reading an article on global water shortages. Despite the morbid nature of the article, Shayera would her muscles loosening and her eyelids growing heavy. Before she knew it, Shayera was snoring softly as she fell into a deep sleep. John, however, sat there for a while longer, watching her sleep and hoping that they could somehow make it work.


	24. Chapter 24

"Can I have a moment?" Batman asked Wonder Woman later that night. The two heroes had just returned from their respective missions, and although Diana was looking a little disheveled, Bruce still thought she looked gorgeous. Her black hair was tossed wildly and blue eyes had a ferocious glaze over them that she only got after outwitting an enemy in battle The bright color in her cheeks made her look a little tired, but when she threw a glittering smile across her face, she still made his heart beat faster.

"Sure." She said playfully.

Opening the door to Founder's room, Bruce let Diana enter ahead of him. He glanced around the hall to make sure that no one was eyeing them, but like usual, no one was paying attention to the pair. Everyone was so used to the Founders' secrecy that they didn't even question the dynamics between them anymore. He slid into the room behind her, closing the door firmly.

Immediately, she was in front of him, pulling up his cowl to press a quick kiss to his lips. He responded for just a moment before she moved away slightly and asked, "Was this a serious moment or just an excuse to get me alone?"

"Little of both." He murmured with a sly grin. He wound his arms behind her back, giving her enough room to stay where she was but preventing her from moving away after further. She leaned into him just a little more, but kept enough distance that they could still talk. He smiled a little wider at her self restraint. She was far stronger than he was in that moment.

"Why don't you tell me what you needed first. Then we can…" She trailed off seductively with the raise of one slim eyebrow.

"I have a meeting tomorrow with some contractors to go over plans for the new house. They're thinking about changing the layout a little, making it a bit easier to navigate, and I thought that you might like to come and give your input. It's in the morning, but you could be done in time for your shift at noon." He spoke casually.

"For your house?" She asked in confusion.

"Of course." He didn't understand the miscommunication. Surely she wanted to come.

She coughed to cover up a sarcastic laugh and asked, "What for, exactly?"

He frowned, "To make sure you like it."

With a roll of her eyes, she responded, "Well, it's your house, Bruce. It doesn't really matter if I like it or not. You're the one who has to live in it."

"About that." He began rubbing her back in the slow circles he knew that she enjoyed. She remained tense, though, so he continued, "I was hoping that when this was all over that you would consider moving in with me. Officially, that is."

She leaned as far back as his arms would allow her and looked at him in shock. Even though she had expected a joking expression, he appeared perfectly serious. That confused her even more. There was no way he could actually want this. After all, they had only been dating for a few months. Women had been chasing after Bruce Wayne for years to no avail, but he was asking her to move in with him so quickly. Without thinking, she asked, "What's the catch?"

"There is no catch, Diana." He released her to cross his arms over his chest.

"With you, there's always a catch, Bruce." She mocked.

"Like what?" He asked completely seriously.

"Like what!" Now she did let out a sarcastic laugh, "Bruce. You run from relationships the way that most people run from a bomb. It is well known by everybody that you hate commitment. We've only been dating a little while. I expected this conversation to be happening in a year with you dragging your heels and me pulling you along. So of course I'm wondering what the catch is."

"Diana." He said like he was talking to a child.

"No!" She took another step back and held up her pointer finger, "We're going to talk about this. Tell me what you're thinking and I'll consider it."

He gawked at her, "Why do you want me to explain why I _want_ you to move in? Most women would just be happy I asked."

"First of all, that's more egotistical than I care to get into right now. And secondly, because you, whether you are being Bruce Wayne or Batman, never do something unless it has a reason. And I want to know what you think you are getting out of this arrangement." She said suspiciously.

"I'm getting the pleasure of your company." He said simply.

"Nope." She shook her head, "There has to be something more."

"Do you realize how self-demeaning you sound?" He shook his head.

"Tell me what is so different about now than any other time in your life." She countered.

"Diana! You're different!" He shouted.

"Please!" Her volume rose to match his own, "We haven't even told the rest of the team that we're a couple, but you want me to _move in with you_? How am I any different?" She asked rhetorically.

"Okay, maybe I went about this a little backwards." He admitted.

"Bruce, the order of your actions really isn't what's important to me. It's the fact that I don't know where we stand... _at all_ … and you're asking me to move in with you. So now I am even more perplexed as to how exactly you feel about me." Diana struggled to say.

He glared at her in silence, but she didn't flinch. Instead, she stood her ground firmly, and he eventually gave in to her, "Fine." He gave an indignant huff of air as he began answering, "Because you make me happy, and I want you around. Of course I would like to tell the rest of the team, but I enjoy how simple things are now. Surely you can guess how complicated this will be after we tell the others. I like it as it is - just you and me, happy together, with nothing between us. That's how I want it all the time. So, I want you to help me design the new house because I don't want to come home one more night without you being there. So do you want to?"

She looked astonished for a minute, but that faded away to a sappy smile, "If you say the words."

"What words?" He feigned incomprehension.

She crossed the short distance between the two of them and crossed her wrists behind his neck. This was one of the few times that his worry was actually quite charming. She grinned a little wider and said, "I'll say it if you say it."

"I have no idea what you're talking about." He insisted.

"Really, Bruce?" She cocked her head and waited for him to give in.

He narrowed his eyes and sighed, "Fine… I love you. Is that what you want to hear?"

She looked pleased with herself as she said, "Okay, I'll be there tomorrow. But until the new house is ready, why don't you stay in my suite. Yours is much too small, and we wouldn't want a pampered pet like you to feel forgotten, would we?"

He ignored her jab. "And when the house is ready?" He asked innocently.

She dramatically sighed, "I guess it wouldn't hurt to have a residence on Earth. There are some perks I'm sure."

"Like?" His arms drew around her waist and pulled her closer.

She looked thoughtful for a minute, "The food's better."

He laughed, "Anything else?"

"Company too." She said as she brought her lips to his once more. This time, she didn't pull away until she was out of breath. Even then, she remained in his arms, simply placing her cheek against his chest so she could whisper, "I love you too."

He smiled, "Let's tell the others."

"Tomorrow." She amended with a tired smile, "Tonight, we have to talk about what our house is going to look like."

He nodded in agreement, "Tomorrow."


	25. Chapter 25

Shayera woke up the next morning to John sleeping in the chair beside her bed. He must have left sometime in the night because he was wearing jeans and a blue t-shirt rather than his Lantern attire. There was also a deep red book on his knee, with pages on either side of his leg to mark his page rather than the newspaper he had been reading when she had fallen asleep. His face had relaxed in sleep, freeing his expression from the stress and worry of previous days. He looked so peaceful and kind, the way she remembered him looking before she had shaken his world. She wanted to reach out and touch him so badly.

But what really irritated her was how he was leaving the book. He knew that it bothered her when he laid his novels like that, and she couldn't stand leaving it as it was. Leaning precariously out of her bed, she reached for the hardcover while trying not to fall out of her bed. It was made more difficult by her large stomach, but she managed to lock the book between two of her fingers after a couple of tris. She drew the cover close enough to read the title, _Dynamics of Water Shortages and Methods of Resource Redistribution_. _God, did that man ever quit working?_ She wondered. Gingerly, she closed the book and sat it on her side table.

As she did so, John roused from his sleep. He rubbed one fist over his weary eyes and asked in a husky voice, "Shayera?"

"Hey." She said softly, "Go back to sleep. It's still early."

"It's okay." He stretched slowly, "J'onn will be here soon anyway. I don't want to miss anything."

"Right." She said with a small smile.

He pushed himself upright in his chair and asked politely, "So how did you sleep?"

She sighed and tapped her stomach gently, "As well as can be expected. Considering."

"Do you want me to ask J'onn to come early? You know, make sure the little guy's doing well and everything." John asked nervously.

"He's fine, John." Shayera assured.

"Can't hurt to check." John insisted while typing into his handheld. Shayera knew that when he got into a mood such as this one, it was better to just let him be. Sometimes her Marine was much too cautious, but at least one of them was. After a moment, he put his phone down and looked up at her once again.

She laid rolled on her side to face him more fully and asked, "So what's been going on since I left? Has a lot changed?"

"Well, we've had a good number of new recruits. Some of them are working out better than others. Arrow's been a great edition, but he was already doing some work with us before he joined. I like working with Tornado and Atom too. Not too bad of guys, either of them. But then there's this group of young heroes who just drive me crazy. So eager, hotheaded, and untrained."

"Bet Wally loves them." She said knowingly.

"Of course!" John laughed, "He's crazy about expanding the League. The more the merrier, right?"

"And the new Tower?" Shayera inquired, "You like it?"

He sighed, "It's okay, I guess. Too busy."

She smiled, "It's difficult for a place to have this much energy with just seven people."

He grinned back at her, "And one of them was J'onn."

"He is rather quiet, isn't he?" She scrunched her nose in admission.

"Who's quiet?" John jumped in surprise as the Martian entered the room unexpectedly. He was pushing a cart of medical equipment with the same slightly worried face he always wore. For once, the Lantern was pleased with his friend's unexpected appearance.

Shayera turned with a grin on her face as she ratted John out, "Lantern here was just saying how skilled you were at sneaking up on people."

J'onn nodded in understanding and said simply, "Humans make too many unnecessary noises. Martains prefer quiet to what you humans call 'busy noise.'" He pulled up the cart beside Shayera's beside and began organizing everything to his liking. Shayera sat leaned back in relaxation, knowing what to expect, but John was a little more anxious, moving to sit on the edge of his seat once more.

"Could you lift up your dress, please?" J'onn asked as he held a tube of gel in his hand.

This was the one part of the process that Shayera hated. Carefully, she arranged her blankets and dress so that only the necessary amount of skin was showing to reveal her plump bump. Then, without even bothering to warm it up first, the Manhunter covered her stomach in the cold gel, not noticing her wince. John, though, reached out to give her hand a reassuring squeeze, which brought a smile to her face.

Silently, J'onn brought the probe to her lower abdomen and clicked on the monitor which showed a strange collection of black and white blurs. John squinted at the screen, and seeing the question in his eyes, Shayera tried to ease his worries by saying, "Just give it a minute." John nodded, but his brows remained furrowed in concern. He continued to stare at the screen, waiting for something to change.

Eventually, the shape of a head came into view, and J'onn said simply, "There is your child."

Like always, Shayera felt her breathe stop in her chest. Automatically, she clutched John's hand tighter in excitement, and he answered in similar fashion. She looked over at him to see his face glazed over in amazement by the image before them. The look brought a huge smile to her face, and she heard herself murmuring, "It's incredible. Isn't it?"

"Yeah." He said a little breathlessly, "He's healthy?"

"Or she." Shayera said automatically, "We're not sure if we want to know the sex yet."

"I will comply with your wishes if you want to remain unaware." J'onn promised. He moved his arm lower and the picture changed to show more of the baby's torso and hands, "I can see ten fingers, developing organs, and fully formed wings."

"Wings?" John gawked.

"Wings." Shayera said with a grin. His face didn't give away much other than shock, to her disappointment. Turning back to J'onn, she asked, "You were going to check for a due date today."

"Yes." He said thoughtfully, "You appear to be twenty six weeks pregnant, making your due date December 12th."

"December 12th?" She asked in shock.

"Wow." John said in a detached voice, "That's in…"

"A little over three months." J'onn said formally, "And the baby appears to be developing on schedule. You health seems to be improving as well, which means that if you agree to keep your stress level to a minimum, you can leave at the end of the week."

Shayera just nodded slowly, "Okay."

"Do you two need a minute?" J'onn asked as he finished his examination and began wiping the gel off of her belly.

"Yeah. Thanks, J'onn." John said quietly.

"I'll be in the other room if you need me." He said solemnly before taking his leave.

John sat down on the edge of Shayera's bed and gently pulled her dress over her bump again. She sat up carefully, helping him a little in his work, and then brushed her long locks out of her face. As she blew out a tense breath, John asked, "Are you okay?"

All she could do was nod again, but John wasn't buying it. He could see the slight tremble in her left hand that she tried to hide and the way she bit her lip to keep her expression from falling apart. Not giving her a chance to deny his comfort, he reached for her and drew her into his arms without asking. She resisted only a little, the way she always did, but slowly tucked her head under his chin. Rubbing soft circles on her back, he asked, "Just a lot to take in?"

He felt her sigh, "Everything just hit me suddenly."

He agreed, "It's crazy to think we'll have a kid in December."

She nodded again. He kissed her hair and said, "It's okay to be scared. But I'll be here and we'll figure this out together. You, me, and the little guy. I promise you that we can do this."

The warmth of her pressing her lips hesitantly against his chest made him grin like a teenager. Even after all this time, it was so easy to fall back into this pattern of understanding. She snuggled deeper into his embrace and said, "I don't know how good I'll be at this. Parenting isn't exactly high up on my list of skills."

He chuckled, "We'll learn together. I swear."

"Okay." She sighed. It sounded like she had finally started to relax again.

He pushed her away just enough to look her in the eyes and asked, "Do you want to go grab something to eat?"

She shook her head, "Can we just sit here for a while?"

"Yes. Whatever you want." He agreed quickly. As long as she wasn't panicking, everything was okay in his book.


	26. Chapter 26

The week came and went without much event. John spent half of his time on duty with the League and the rest with Shayera in the infirmary. They would spend their time watching movies, playing games, and catching up on the months they had spent apart. After a couple of days, she looked much better, regaining her color and even putting on a little bit of weight so that her cheekbones didn't stick out so prominently. She was happier too. As the last few days had gone by, he had noticed that she joked with him more and seemed to slowly be warming up to him physically. She still tensed up for a second each time he took her hand, but now she would loosen up after just a moment.

He was excited for her to leave the medical wing today. Even though his room was individually sized, as he only stayed there when he couldn't make it home to his apartment, he had asked Batman to let him use one of the apartment style suites for a while. There were several open, and J'onn had insisted that Shayera not leave the Watchtower until he was certain that her health would not decline again. The rest of the team, on the other hand, didn't want her to leave because they were more concerned about the number of people who wanted the mother of his child dead. Both of those factors worried him greatly, which was part of the reason he was so excited to have them living together so he would always be close. That and the fact that he missed her when she wasn't around.

He had a little extra pep in his step as he walked towards the infirmary that day. Wally had even made a snide comment about it earlier, but he was so happy that all he could do was ignore the kid. Rounding on the medical bay, he ran into J'onn who was working at one of the computers he used to maintain his system of medical files. Happily, he asked, "Hey, J'onn. How's it going today?"

"Fine. And yourself?" The Martian answered.

"Good. Just coming to pick up Shayera." He said happily.

J'onn frowned at him, making John slow his stride. He was standing between J'onn and the doors to the patient room, but he turned to face the hero. In a confused voice, he asked, "You're still releasing her today, right? Or did something change?"

J'onn shook his head, "No, she can leave. But she checked out nearly an hour ago. She left with Clark. I believe he was going to help her move her things back into her room downstairs. She must not have been aware that you were coming back this early."

"Oh." John said quickly, "I see."

"Yes." Turning back to his work without noticing John's shocked and somewhat hurt expression, J'onn continued, "But do not let her forget her appointment on Thursday."

"Will do." The Lantern said mechanically as he stalked off to find his girlfriend.

* * *

"Thanks again for helping me move my stuff in Clark." Shayera said happily, "You know that I could have gotten it all myself, though, right?"

Clark sent her an "are you serious?" look from where he was crouching down by her closet, carefully arranging her few pairs of shoes in a neat row. She found it amusing to watch such a large, muscular man as Clark doing something so domestic as organizing her footwear. Part of her knew that it was only because he knew how messy she was, though, and the Man of Steel was an extremely organized and tidy being. He always blamed it on life at the farm, but Wally said it was because he was just uptight. Shayera tended to agree with the latter.

Clark raised an eyebrow, as he met her gaze, and said, "Really, Shayera. What do you think my mother would do to me if she knew I was allowing a pregnant woman who just got out of the hospital to carry her things home unaccompanied? She would drag me home and give me an ear full. Manners are important where I come from."

She laughed and said, "I'm hardly as weak as you make me sound. A week is more than enough recovery time for a Thanagarian. Surely you don't think that I'm incapable."

Standing up, he shook his head quickly, "A gentleman would never call a woman incapable. I understand and accept that you _could_ have brought yourself home. However, I reject the notion that you _should_. The time was available to me to escort you home, and it makes me feel much better knowing that you got here and settled in safely."

Blushing at her friend's kindness, Shayera responded, "Fine. But don't let anyone else think they are allowed to coddle me. I hate the feeling."

"Whatever you say, Hawkgirl." He smiled.

She sent him a cool look which quickly changed his tune, "Fine. Whatever you say, Shayera."

She nodded and said, "Thanks again, Clark. But I think I'm going to take a nap, if that's okay with you."

"Absolutely." He grinned again, "But don't forget that you and John owe Lois and I a dinner. She would love to catch up with you guys, especially before the baby is born. We can keep it small, just the four of us in mine and Lois' apartment. I'll even cook something that won't make you feel like you just got off of nine hour cruise on stormy waters. The sides, it'll do you good to get out of the Watchtower."

"Sounds like a plan." She said as he let himself out.

Quickly, she pulled off her sundress and grabbed one of John's shirts that he had left in the infirmary. She had already cut two slits in the back to make room for her wings, as she used to do all the time with his shirts. It drove him crazy since that meant he was constantly buying new shirts, but they were too comfortable to resist. Slipping into the garment silently, she began to crawl into bed when there was a loud knock at the door.

Figuring it was just Clark with another one of his gentlemanly actions (he had already brought her home and insisted on stocking her mini-fridge), she sighed, but got up. The process of bringing herself to her feet was getting harder still, much to her dissatisfaction. Yet, she got upright, after a moment's struggle, and made her way to the door. However, when she pulled open the door expecting to see Clark, she instead saw a very angry John.

He was fuming as he asked, "Would you like to explain to me why I came back to the infirmary to find my pregnant girlfriend gone?"

She frowned, not understanding why he was upset, "You knew I was being let out today."

He nodded, "Yes, and that's why I came to get you."

She shook her head but moved aside so that he could get past her and come into her room, "Well, that was totally unnecessary. I didn't have that many things, and I would have been able to move them myself even if Clark hadn't offered to help." Closing the door behind her, she turned to face him and crossed her arms over her chest.

With a sigh, John responded, "That's not the point."

She pushed some stray strands of hair out of her face and asked, "What _is_ the point, John?"

He spoke quickly and made frustrated motions with his hands as he spoke, something Shayera only knew him to do when he was extremely upset. She listened carefully as he said, "How could you think that you were just going to come back here alone. I said we were in this together, and I meant that. Bruce and I talked last night, and I had made arrangements for us to stay in one of the suites until you could come back with me to my apartment. Imagine how I felt when I came to pick you up and instead you and the Boy Wonder had flown off on your own little adventure."

Understanding dawned on her. Still, she wasn't particularly happy with him either. While she understood how he could feel a little slighted, he also hadn't communicated with her. She put her hands on her hips and asked, "So your plan was to just show up and say 'Shayera, I got us a place that you have never seen and now we're going to live together.'" She mocked his low voice easily, "And you thought this was going to go over well?"

He looked uncomfortable, "Well, yeah."

She shook her head and threw her hands in the air, "God, John. I hate being told what to do. You know that! And you thought it was a good idea to inform me after you had already made the decision on your own!"

"Okay," He said calmly, "I can see where I might have made a mistake."

"Can you really?" She was still enraged.

"Shayera, there's no need to be condescending." He threw back.

"There is when you do something so stupid." She laughed, "Really, John. How could you have possibly thought that this would be a good idea." The idea was so angering that it was funny. She found herself involuntarily laughing so hard, she could almost cry.

After a moment, John joined in. He was bent over, laughing so hard his sides actually hurt. They stayed like that for several minutes, each laughing harder at the sight of the other so out of control. It took them quite some time before they could both come to their senses, and even then they were both out of breath. Finally, John spoke while wiping tears from his eyes, "Okay. Shay, will you move it with me?"

She let out one more short chuckle and then sighed happily, "Why not? Guess it'll have to happen sooner or later."

Then, he stopped, looking at her in surprise as he asked in an annoyed voice, "Is that my shirt?"

Smiling, she reminded him, "You were the one who wanted to live together."


	27. Chapter 27

When he was designing the Watchtower, Bruce Wayne had made certain that he would have an appropriate space to work if the Batcave where to be compromised for some reason. This was not strange for him, to have a series of backup plans, but the secrecy he took in creating his sanctuary was a little uncommon. On occasion, he would use that space simply because he was bored with his usual set up, but after his house had been destroyed, he had been forced to relocate. Most of the lower floors of the space station were rooms for heros to stay, but there was also a floor that held water heaters, the cooling system, and other amenities necessary to run these floors. It was deep within the labyrinth of these hallways that Bruce Wayne had built his lair.

Behind a dark steel door, he had organized several monitor screens to make a complicated web of technology that enabled him to quickly find nearly any answers he desired. Other than the steady sounds of the machinery outside and the quick clicks of the Batman's keyboard, the room was silent. Just the way he liked it. Words flashed across the screens too fast for most people to read, but the Dark Knight took in every ounce of information he could get on the monsters he was tracking. Smiling to himself, he wondered how twisted it was to enjoy hunting down people the way he did. He hated that his friends were being hurt by these people, but it certainly was satisfying to catch them and know that his team was going to take them down soon.

His quiet world was suddenly invaded by the click of heels in the hallway. The smile on his face grew wider as he realized that she had finally come to see what his page was about Even though just the slightest echo entered the room, he picked it up from the second she had turned down the hall.. He didn't stop his work as a few beeps signaled that she had remembered the passcode he had entrusted her with a few days before. It was only when her petite hand squeezed his shoulder affectionately that he took a pause from his work and said, "I was hoping you would be faster."

"That important?" He could hear the frown on her face even before he turned around.

Taking a moment to look her up and down in her civilian outfit, a neat navy blazer and white pants with her hair pulled back into a chic bun, he could feel some of the day's stress leave his body. He liked to take notice of the little things she did. For example, she never wore earrings because she hated needles, though she didn't tell many people. She loved to dress up even if no one would see her but the other heroes. Plus, even relaxing, she always appeared cool and confident. That last part made him internally burst with joy at how similar they were in some areas of their lives. Pushing back his cowl, he grinned and said, "It is important, but that's not why I wanted you here sooner."

Her face changed from worry to flirtation instantaneously, "Really? What other reason could you have?"

He leaned back a little and said, "My beautiful girlfriend has been in the field working all day, and I found her absence much more difficult than I had anticipated. You wouldn't happen to have any suggestions, would you?"

Raising the cup she had been holding in her hand, she responded, "Your girlfriend thought some fresh coffee might make things more manageable. She knows you were working very hard all day to catch some very bad men."

Standing up to take the beverage, he placed a chaste kiss on her soft pink lips. He planned to sit back down, but at that moment, she chose to hook her unusually strong arms around his neck and pulled him back for a longer kiss. Without resistance, he held her close for a few minutes more, allowing her body to press against his. He had been waiting for such a welcome all day, but unfortunately, it couldn't last much longer.

Pulling back, he explained, "Clark is on his way down."

She pouted, "Fine. But you have to make it up to me tonight."

"Count on it." He growled with a wink. She giggled suggestively, but moved to sit down on one of the countertops a short distance away from where he sat. Turning back to the monitor, Bruce typed in a few more things before settling back into his seat to have a sip of his coffee. He smiled and said, "You remembered how I like it."

She snorted, "Black with one packet of sugar is hardly a complicated order, Bruce."

He smiled back and then asked seriously, "Have you gone to see her yet?"

Knowing instantly that he was talking about Shayera Hol, her face drew itself into a solemn, composed expression. No one had said anything about how she was avoiding her former comrade, but she knew that Bruce had picked up on her feelings. In response, she simply shook her head, hoping that he would drop the subject, but like most things, Bruce refused to let it go.

"You're the only one who hasn't gone to see her yet." He said plainly.

"Has she said anything to you?" She asked with a raised eyebrow.

He shook his head.

"Then it's obviously not an issue, is it?" She responded.

He sighed, but relented. She gave him his space when he needed it, and he supposed he owed her the same courtesy. Luckily, Clark chose that moment to interrupt them. The Man of Steel floated into the room easily, as Diana had left the door open just a crack, and landed on the floor in between his two co-workers.

"What's the problem?" He asked shortly with a glance between the two of them.

Bruce turned back to the screen, pulling up a few files as she spoke, "I've been doing some more investigating to determine who could be attempting to capture Shayera. The information might interest the two of you."

"I am a curious man." Clark joked with a dimpled smile, "Go on."

Batman turned to look at his still annoyed girlfriend, but she merely shrugged and said, "You heard the man."

Bruce nodded and continued, "Some time ago, I assembled a database of assassins and criminal organizations to which they belong. It includes individuals and groups located on criminal watchlists from across the world as well as offenders new League members have encountered. The list is obviously extremely large, but I was able to narrow it down by the signature of the strikes. Each assassin has different methods to carry out their crimes, and by finding unique attributes to Shayera's kidnapping attempts, I was able to compare the crimes to previous ones these individuals have committed. It was still a huge pool to work through, but the last two weeks have given me some time. There are only two dozen groups which could pull off this type of hit. From that pool of criminals, they have thousands of ties to multinational corporations and wealthy individuals. However, I've been able to narrow it down to just a few companies who are doing meta-human research, specifically research associated with birds. Then, I looked at those who have expressed interest through the grapevine of working on Thanagarians. What I've come up with is the Lotus Foundation."

An image appeared on the screen of a large building with a lotus symbol over the main doorway. It was a modern structure, obviously built rather recently, with dozens of floors. There were a number of smiling people walking in and out of the building on the sunny day, making the whole scene seem fairly safe. Clark was the one to ask, "Where was this taken?"

"New York, but there are a dozen more around the world: Beijing, Moscow, Rio de Janeiro, just to name a few. These buildings are hospitals designed to work with patients on cutting edge projects for some of the harshest diseases on the planet. Their work is pretty incredible, until you take into consideration that it's just a cover for some of their less legal endeavors. The company works with countries around the world on advanced military equipment related to genetic modifying soldiers, but these governments don't ask where their products come from - which is generally illegal human and alien testing."

The happy picture changed to several gruesome ones. Men with bloody spines growing out of their backs were screaming in agony. Women had chemical burns covering their bodies, obviously past the point of rescue. In addition, there were several creatures the team had never seen before, clearly in distress. Diana frowned, "Why has nothing been done about this? Why is it this organization has not been punished?"

Bruce turned to look at the other two, "Because these reports have largely been unconfirmed. Journalists have been struggling to get answers out of this company for years. The closest anyone has ever come was one journalist out of Washington D.C. a three years ago She tried to get in, and from the sounds of it, nearly got killed doing so. There was a dispute between the Foundation and the newspaper which tried to publish the story. Eventually, a settlement was reached outside of court, largely due to the financial assets of the Lotus Group."

Clark frowned, "Lois was reporting out of D.C. three years ago."

Batman nodded, "That's why I asked you two to come today. The name of the reporter was never published, and the court briefs have been redacted. The encryption is complicated, and it will take several hours at the least to break. But if Lois can tell us what's in there or even who would know what's in there…."

"Absolutely." Clark said and left the room with his task at hand.

"Okay," Wonder Woman interrupted, "You still haven't convinced me there is a connection between this company and Shayera. Do you have any solid evidence connecting the people who are trying to capture her with the Lotus Foundation?"

Bruce nodded, "The Foundation has never released the names of their Board of Directors. Money has only ever been transferred to them through a series of shell corporations. However, I've done some digging and managed to discover at least a few of their identities. Believe me when I say they are some dangerous individuals, to say the least. Dictators, former heads of intelligence agencies, some of the richest individuals in the world…."

"Want to share?" She pressed.

Looking pointedly at the door, he frowned. Her eyes grew wide following his gaze and she mouthed the words _Luthor?_ at which he nodded. She kept her face as neutral as possible, but Bruce could still make out the astonishment there. Of course Luthor was involved - paying high level assassins to kidnap a League member was right up his alley. It wasn't like he hadn't tried similar things in the past. Then something occurred to Diana. Her face contorted into worry as she asked, "What do you think they are planning to do to her?"

Bruce's brows came together in anxiety, "Think about it. If they are trying to make hybrids, her child's genetics are the perfect example to base any research off of. It's the perfect combination of human and Thanagarian bloodlines."

"So they just want her baby?" Diana wondered.

Bruce shook his head, "Her child is just the results they are looking for. Shayera's blood is the answer key, telling them which genes are important and which are useless for their purposes. Both are needed if their goal is to create genetically altered humans based on Thanagarian DNA."

Diana finally understood. She sighed and said, "What you need is more information about the Lotus Foundation and who exactly is paying these hunters. Someone to get in, find what you can't hack, and report back to you. There's no telling what information hasn't been uploaded to their database. And the others - you don't want them to know because you want to have a plan before you worry them about potentially losing this child."

"I would have told J'onn, but he just got sent out on another mission. The other three, they're too involved. Plus, you know how Clark gets when Luthor is involved. I don't want to tell him until I am absolutely sure." Bruce smiled, "So are you up for a little trip?"

She shook her head, "You already knew I would be dying to go."

Bruce nodded, "I can be ready in an hour, if you want to go then."

"Bruce, you can't possibly go. If only the two of us know about this, one of us has to stay and monitor the other in case something were to go wrong. Since you're the brains behind the mission, that means you have to stay." She insisted.

There was no way he would agree to that. In fact, he abruptly stood up and closed the short distance between him and where she was sitting. He towered over her sitting form, "No way." He insisted, "You are not going alone."

She stood up, bringing her body within an inch of his, but not backing down, "I've done plenty of missions solo."

"Not like this one. Infiltrating Luthor's facilities is extremely dangerous, and while you're knowledge of mortal etiquette is getting better, I'm not sending you in alone." He insisted.

"Is this because of my lack of undercover experience or the fact that I'm your girlfriend?" She asked. He opened his mouth to speak, but she cautioned with a cold glare, "I would like to warn you before you speak that you are treading on some dangerous waters here."

He sighed and grudgingly admitted, "I don't want anything to happen to you."

Her expression softened and she reached upward with one hand to stroke his cheek. He leaned in to her touch, closing his eyes softly and whispered, "I would blame myself if you were to get hurt."

She smiled and said, "Well, I'm going with or without your help. So, wouldn't you rather I had some backup?"

He shook his head, "Why are you being so foolish? You're practically suicidal!"

"I learned from the best, right?" She smiled quickly before her expression grew serious once again and she asked, "So are you in or out?"

With defeat, he nodded, "But you better not get yourself killed."

She grinned, "Agreed."


	28. Chapter 28

"Lois?" Clark asked as he walked into their apartment. He could hear some of her favorite jazz music playing on the vinyl player that he had bought her for Christmas. She always played that kind of music when she was working on a major project. Slowly, Clark took off his jacket and loosened his tie. These civilian clothes were truly an annoyance, but if it meant that he could live with the love of his life without getting second glances from all of their neighbors, then he guessed it was worth it. He sighed, remembering how he hadn't minded these clothes when they were the simple t-shirts and jeans he wore on the farm.

He meandered into the kitchen, which was painted in soft shades of green to make up for the cold blue countertops and steel appliances. Lois had lit a few candles on the kitchen bar, filling the room with the smell of lavenders and vanilla, two of her favorite scents. He spied her immediately, sitting on a barstool and leaning over her notes which were sprawled across the counter. Her dark hair was pulled into a messy bun and her reading glasses were hanging dangerously low on her nose. Like she usually did when she worked, she wore one of his old University of Metropolis sweatshirts, which fell nearly to her knees and hand holes around the seams, over a pair of worn leggings. He leaned against the doorway and took a moment to appreciate her in her natural element, looking for scoops on the latest political figures or government ordinances. When she was sitting there, working so hard that she didn't even notice him walk into the kitchen, that was when she was her truest self - and he loved it. _How have I gotten this lucky?_ He thought to himself.

Finally, after he had enjoyed watching her work for a while, he walked into the kitchen to pull two mugs down from the cupboard and set them on the counter. It wasn't until he had already taken the milk out of the fridge and was pouring it into a pan to heat on the stove that she even realized he was there. She looked up to see him cooking and let out a surprised, "Oh!" which caused Clark to smile at her.

"Did you have a good day at work?" He asked happily while reaching for the hot chocolate mix that they always kept in good supply. This was one of their rituals. No matter how long the day, or how difficult the work, they always came home to make each other hot chocolate. It was one of the little things that made them both extraordinarily happy. They were able to sit and talk about their lives for a few minutes, so that even when things got crazy, they would still have time together each evening. When she didn't answer right away, he turned to see her smiling at his work rather than still reading like she would usually do. He grinned back and asked, "That bad?"

"Oh, you have no idea." She said with the smile still glued to her face, "But once I can prove that the Attorney General is helping to siphon funds from the state's transportation initiatives, I can rest easy tonight."

He gave her a look of confusion, "Shouldn't you actually be losing sleep from that?"

She looked at him contently and teased, "That's why I love you. You adore me despite my flaws"

His face fell a little bit as he said in a shaky voice, "Actually, I was going to ask you about your time in D.C. We've never talked about your work there that much...or why you left."

She looked surprised, "Why I left? Because it was a year long liaison and it ended."

He nodded as he scooped the chocolate powder into each of their cups, "But you came back a few weeks earlier than planned, didn't you? I remember the editor mentioned it, but you never said what happened."

She shrugged, "A story just got a little out of hand. You know how it gets."

He sighed and put aside what he was doing, "Lois, I'm sorry. It's wrong of me to keep pretending like I don't know why you left D.C. I do. Or at least, I think I do, and it has something to do with the Lotus Foundation."

Her face went pale and she was silent for a minute before saying, "I thought the court briefings were destroyed."

He gave her a sad smile, "Batman can do anything."

She nodded, "He really can."

Clark turned back to the stove to remove the milk from where it had been warming. With a short click, he turned off the warming plate and moved to carefully pour the liquid into their mugs. Once he had done that, he sprinkled a few marshmallows onto Lois's just like he knew she enjoyed. By the time he handed her the mug, she had regained a little bit of her coloring. She asked slowly, "So...you aren't mad?"

Clark frowned, "Why would I be mad?"

She stirred her drink thoughtfully, "This isn't just a small thing I've kept from you, Clark. This story - it nearly cost me everything. My job, my reputation, my life. It's the only thing that I've ever run scared from." She took a shaky breathe, "It was all just so much, and being alone in D.C…. I wanted to come back and it gave me an excuse not to stay."

He cocked his head to the side, "Were you thinking about staying?"

She sighed, "I had thought about it. The newspaper there offered me a permanent position in June and my contract was up in September. I told the editor I would think about it. You and I… well, I didn't know who you were yet and I was mad that you were keeping secrets. So, I considered just moving to D.C. and just starting over. It was never like me to get so attached to a guy, and I thought maybe it would be good to stay. But this story…."

Clark took his mug and walked around to the other side of the counter. Pulling up the stool beside Lois, he took one of her small hands in his and whispered while looking at them, "I want you to know that whatever you say, I won't love you any less than I did this morning. We were in an entirely different place three years ago. The people we are now are so much more important than who we were. I promise you, nothing will change." He looked up as he spoke the last sentence, his blue eyes meeting her hazel ones with fierce intensity.

She smiled once again and said, "The Lotus Foundation only came to my attention by chance. I worked on Capitol Hill quite a bit, and for some reason, I kept seeing the same man always talking to some of the New England Senators. At first, I thought he was just another lobbyist, but," her trill of laughter filled the room, "you know how curiosity and I get when we're together. So I asked around and I found out that this scrawny little guy was actually some big time military contractor. This was back in December, when I was still relatively new in town. It took me until March to really get rolling on the story."

She leaned forward, letting her head rest on Clark's shoulder. He brushed through her dark hair as she murmured, "The things they did were so horrible. And when I got caught doing what I was….They had the resources to come after me and I knew they would. God, Clark, I was so scared, so I came back to you and acted like nothing had changed. And then I was just ashamed. I didn't want you to know that I didn't fight harder against these monsters."

"Shh." He whispered, "We all have some demons that we don't want to face."

She sighed, "I want them gone so badly."

He kissed her hair and promised, "We'll get them."

Finally, she pushed off from him and looked him in the eye once more. Her eyes were red, but she refused to let the tears fall down her face. Instead, she set her expression to one of determination and said, "I'm going to help. I know that you hate to get me involved in your work, but Clark, I'm already involved. If I don't finish this, I don't know how I can ever respect myself again."

He nodded in acceptance even though he knew that he was fighting against every instinct that said to keep her out of the situation, "But you have to promise to let me do the hitting. We don't want you to bruise your knuckles again. You know how my mother felt after the last time."

She grinned, "I guess that would be fair."

He smiled, "Tomorrow, I'll take you up to the Watchtower. You can work with Bruce."

She frowned, "Does he know that I know? His identity, that is."

Clark laughed, "I honestly don't know. But considering how intrusive he is, I wouldn't put it against him."

Standing up suddenly, she asked, "Well, you're not going to make me carry all of those boxes out of storage by myself, are you?" He knew right away that she was talking about her research. It was unlike her to throw anything away that could someday lead to another story. She had storage spaces all over the city for that reason.

Clark rolled his eyes, knowing that he was already fighting a losing battle, "Really? You want to do all of this tonight?"

"Absolutely," She smiled, "Unless you're not strong enough."

He stood up to plant a quick kiss on her lips, "Fine. But let me change."

She smiled and watched her man walk out of the kitchen towards their bedroom. Her extraordinary, accepting, loving man. Sighing in bliss, she wondered how she had gotten this lucky.


	29. Chapter 29

It had been two weeks since Shayera and John had moved in together. At first, she just hung around the apartment, not afraid but...anxious about interacting with the other heroes. She had the excuse that she needed to rest, which allowed her to put aside the guilt she felt for not being braver. John happily agreed with her decision not to leave the apartment right away as he was constantly fussing over her and the baby. The other founders, excluding Diana, had seemed to welcome her back with open arms. Clark had already been over half a dozen times for afternoon snacks and even J'onn had come to sit in the evenings and listen to human music with her. Bruce even came in every couple of days to drop off random items he thought would help her - whether they be more comfortable shoes or additional health supplements. Her friends were truly some of the kindest people she had ever known, but who knew how the other League members would react. They hadn't been friends before the invasion. A few, she knew slightly as acquaintances from work they had done together on occasion, but she had never been a particularly welcoming person so she hardly felt like she had made a good impression.

Slowly, she had started to make trips outside of the apartment. It had started a few days after John had moved her things (he had been even more offended than Clark when she tried to move her stuff herself) to their new place. _Their first place_ , Shayera thought with just a hint of pride. She would sometimes go to the library to check out a book or travel back up to the lookout deck to do some thinking, but she had gone out of her way to avoid other Leaguers. However, she had decided that pattern must end. Once she had been settled in, Wally had wanted to come over for a housewarming dinner with Linda. The evening had gone well and he started coming over to the apartment often for lunch or supper, but by the end of the second week, she had realized that despite eating at least one meal with Wally a day, they never left the apartment. She knew that he was trying to keep her from feeling awkward around the others, but if there was one thing she hated more than anything, it was being coddled.

So, finally she had called Wally and asked, "Do you want to have lunch today?"

His response had been quick, "Sure. Can I come over at 1:00?"

"Actually," She said with a smile, "I was thinking that we could just go to the cafeteria. You must be tired of cooking for me."

"I really don't mind cooking, Wings." He laughed.

"Too bad. I want to go to the cafeteria. So we're going to go to the cafeteria." She demanded.

"Um…" He had said slowly, "I'm not sure that's a good idea-"

"Why?" She interrupted.

Rather than argue, Wally had simply given in with a simple, "Okay. See you at 1:00 I guess." And then he hung up. She smiled with pride at her success before becoming suddenly nervous about their excursion. There was really no way to know how she would be welcomed. In fact, there was strong evidence she would not be welcomed at all. Thinking back to what Diana had once mentioned to her - you have to dress the part - she searched through the clothes John and Bruce had bought for her. There were at least twenty maternity dresses, most in shades of pink or yellow, neither of which appealed to her much. However, she managed to find one dress in a soft shade of green with short sleeves, a low cut back to accommodate her wings, and a simple pattern that wasn't too girly so as she wanted to burn it. She wove her hair into a loose braid, and with a quick look in the mirror, had decided she didn't look _too_ threatening. In fact, with sweet dress and small baby bump, she looked almost… cute. The slightly annoyed expression she had been sporting since she had gotten sick again that morning had yet to dissipate, but she tried to change it to something slightly happier. Finally, she decided it simply wasn't going to get any better than how she looked right then.

True to his word, Wally arrived at 1:00, thankful that he hadn't chosen an earlier time as the cafeteria would have been much more crowded. While he hoped that no one would say anything to Shayera, he was more worried about what she would do to them. She was both scary and hormonal, neither of which was good for the others in the League. _Especially if they irritated her._ He struggled to contain his worry even more with that last thought.

He knocked on the door and tried to tap his foot as quietly as possible so as not to induce any more of her rage. When she opened the door, he was shocked to see that even she seemed to be trying to appear nonthreatening. Trying to cover up his surprise, he quickly asked, "Feeling adventurous today?"

She sighed, "More like I just want to rip the bandage off."

He nodded in understanding, "Well, at least you chose quesadilla day to do it."

She smiled, "It's the little victories, right?" With that, she began the walk down to the cafeteria with Wally at her side. Turned out, things had changed around the Watchtower a little more than she had anticipated. Twice, she started to take a wrong turn and Wally had to slip an arm around her waist to pull her the correct way. They did, however, eventually make it to the cafeteria.

"So, do you want to go to the quesadilla bar first? Or we could check out the breakfast bar or the dinner? I might even be talked into the fruit stand if we have to be nutritious." Wally said with a smile.

"You don't have to accompany me, you know? I am perfectly capable of getting my own food." Shayera insisted with a wave of her hand.

"I'm going to visit all these places in the end, so it couldn't hurt to let you make the first choice, right?" Wally tried to cover.

Shayera, though, wasn't having any of it. With a quick glare, she pushed him forward and said, "Go get your food. I'll get a table for us." He looked at her hesitantly, waiting for her to change her mind and come with him, but after a few seconds, he realized there really was no arguing with Shayera. Instead, he set off at a normal speed to check out the various food options for the day.

Meanwhile, Shayera scanned the cafeteria for an open table. Despite the fact that there really weren't that many people in the space, she couldn't spy a single open table. Everyone had spread out so most people had their own table and were eating by themselves. What's worse, many of those people were staring at her with curious or accusing eyes. A few merciful people were ignoring her and ate in silence, but there was no avoiding the many death glares that Hawkgirl was receiving. Despite that, she stood her ground, refusing to so much as squirm in discomfort.

However, her confidence still didn't solve her table problem. She didn't want to be particularly awkward and wait for anyone to finish eating so she could take their spot, but she didn't know anyone well enough to ask to share their table either. Most of the heroes she didn't even recognize, if she was being honest. Standing nervously at the entrance, she finally decided she would get a snack first and perhaps by the time she returned, there would be someplace available. Just as she moved towards the service area, though, a rough voice called out from somewhere in the distance, "Hawkgirl! Hey, where are you going?"

Her head snapped towards where the voice was coming from, and she turned to see Green Arrow waving at her near the soda dispenser on the other side of the room. His bearded face was covered with a genuine grin, which surprised her as she didn't know him well at all. In fact she didn't think they had ever even met. Still, she remembered John had mentioned he was a good guy, so it couldn't hurt to return the gesture, right? She smiled and waved back slowly, and he called loudly, "Why don't you and Flash come sit with us?"

She nodded gratefully in agreement and was glad to see his kind smile in response. Relief poured over her as she walked past the sparsely filled tables towards where he was seated with a few other heros. She made it about halfway across the room when she suddenly found her path blocked by a tall, formidable figure. A large man in a yellow body suit covered by a red tunic, silver helmet, and matching gauntlets had stood up from his table threateningly and stood directly in front of Shayera. On his chest, which was only a foot or so in front of her face, a black bird of some type was embroidered on the scarlet material, and while the symbol looked familiar, she still couldn't place it. The man was dressed unusually…like... _a knight?_ Shayera was fairly certain this was the term John would have used. His stance caused her to step back with her right foot, but she kept her left slightly forward, lest he think he was actually intimidating her. She just needed a little room so she didn't have to look up too much to meet his eyes.

"Excuse me." She said shortly, hoping he wouldn't engage her any further.

Luck wasn't on her side, though. He responded loudly and clearly so the whole room could hear, "Your presence here is most disruptful. I must insist you leave, my lady."

Her reserved expression morphed into one of anger. She had expected people not to like her being there, but she didn't think that anyone would say something so forthright. Generally, she had found humans were more passive than Thanagarians and prefered to hint their desires rather than outrightly say them. Raising an eyebrow, she tried to remain composed as she answered, "I'm not bothering anyone. All I'm here for is some lunch and company."

"I disagree. If you want company, you should seek it out elsewhere." He said plainly.

"Yeah, well you can take that huge ego of yours and shove it right up your-" She began, but was interrupted when the Arrow suddenly appeared from behind the man in front of her.

His green gloved hand wrapped around the stranger's chest and pushed him aside so she could see her new friend more clearly. He looked pretty annoyed with whoever the oddly dressed man was and asked the man bluntly, "Is there a problem here?"

"This woman-" The warrior began.

The Arrow angrily interrupted him, "Outranks you, wasn't bothering you, and has just as much right to be here as you do. If you have a problem with her presence, take it up with the Founders. Until then, you are supposed to be a gentleman, Sir Justin, not an uncivilized bastard. Making a pregnant woman wait for her food is unacceptable. Especially when the woman in question could easily rip off your own limbs and beat you with them." The archer rolled his eyes and said, "Come on, Hawkgirl. I believe that Dinah saved you a seat."

He motioned for Shayera to walk around the knight, which she did even though what she really wanted to do was to serve a swift kick to the man's stomach. Once she had passed Sir Justin, the Arrow gently placed a hand on Shayera's back to guide her forward. He spoke in a kind voice as he promised, "The Shining Knight does not speak for everyone, let me assure you. You are more than welcome to eat with us anytime you like. I guarantee you, though, that my table is much more hospitable than most. I only sit with the best." He smiled as he pointed out the few people sitting with him. Across from his seat sat a blonde woman in a black body suit and jacket, "This is Black Canary, and I presume you know Kara," He motioned at Clark's niece who sat to the Canary's right, "Plus Red Tornado." The last member of the table appeared to be a robot who was sitting across from the Kryptonian, but the Arrow simply shrugged and said, "He doesn't eat, but enjoys our conversation. I like him."

As he spoke, Wally suddenly sat down next to Black Canary and said, "Hey, Wings. I got you some fruit as promised. Hope everyone's been welcoming thus far."

She rolled her eyes at his ignorance. _Oh well,_ she thought, _at least nothing's changed with Wally._ With a happy sigh, she said, "Okay, I'm going to grab some pasta. I should be back in a moment. Don't let Wally eat my food." With that, she walked back towards the dining area, happy there were at least five people in the room who didn't want to kill her. It was a start, at least.


	30. Chapter 30

Shayera was growing fond of watching the morning news. At least, John said it was the morning news. Since everyone kept different time in space, depending on where they were from or what hours they were working, it was difficult to identify any one time as morning, afternoon, or night. Since Shayera hadn't left in the last few weeks, she had began to lose track of time. The old Watchtower had never had this problem, since Wally, Clark, and Bruce all operated on the same time. The rest of the team had just fallen into line except whoever drew the short stick and was assigned night monitor duty. Now, she found herself trying to make a schedule for herself. Watching the news each day after she awoke helped keep some consistency in her days. Plus, she could stay up to date on what was happening on Earth.

On this day, a Monday she was pretty certain that John had said, she sat on a stool beside the counter next to her mate. She was dressed in one of his shirts again while he was ready for a regular work day in his Lantern attire. Shayera still wasn't feeling particularly well, but John had coaxed her into trying a bowl of cereal and some juice. So far, nothing had caused her to frantically flee for the bathroom, which was always a good sign. As she cautiously spooned the sugary flakes into her mouth, John watched her slyly out of the corner of his eye. He knew she hated when he stared at her, but it was almost haunting how similar this morning was to the number they had spent in his little apartment in Detroit. One half of his heart thought that he could do this every single morning for the rest of his life and never worry about anything again. The other half was screaming at him to duck before the other shoe dropped and his world exploded. Still, he was trying to trust her as much as he was capable.

"John, I don't understand. Why is the cat jumping at the pickle? Surely the vegetable can do it no harm." His attention was drawn from the pale freckles which had begun to color her nose back to the small television he had installed the week before. It appeared that one of the morning shows was playing a series of cute animal videos. This one involved a compilation of cats whose owners had placed a vegetable that certainly wasn't a pickle behind them.

With a chuckle, John responded, "It's a cucumber, Shayera."

"The details are unimportant, John," She dismissed his correction and continued with her brow furrowing in concentration, "How could humans not realize the felines' fear of it sooner? Surely in the last several hundred years at least one individual must have documented the strange interactions. It seems odd that it has only just been discovered."

"Shayera, they are just showing something funny to lighten the mood. It's not really news." He explained.

"That doesn't make sense." She argued, "You said this was a news station. News stations report recent events of great political, cultural, economic or security importance. That's what you said. Humor and other funny items should be relegated to the evening talk shows that Wally enjoys. He said they make comedic items into news. Why would this clip be placed here instead? Shouldn't one of the Jimmys prefer to have this piece?" She referred to anyone who hosted a night show as Jimmy. Wally certainly thought it was amusing.

He sighed, realizing that he probably wasn't going to make her see his point, "They just want to make the audience laugh so they keep watching. Otherwise, if they only show bad or disappointing stories, people tend to not watch their shows. So, sometimes they place items in their broadcasts that aren't very relevant."

"But don't people watch the news in order to get serious information?" She was confused once more.

"Yes, but-" He started.

She interrupted him as a new story began, "Shh, John. You're talking over the news."

He sighed and turned back to the screen. Two anchors were talking about a mysterious explosion in New York City. Apparently some medical testing facility had suffered a technical malfunction in the middle of the night which caused some machinery to overheat. From what he could understand, the chemicals within had ignited and caused massive damage in part of the building. Luckily, it seemed that the late hour meant most employees were at home, and those who remained in the building had survived with few serious injuries. Nonetheless, it had caused chaos for the city's traffic and displaced hundreds of workers for the time being. Plus, many local hospitals received equipment shipments through them, causing other facilities to be forced to step in.

The picture on the screen changed from the two impeccably dressed hosts to show a smoking building with a large number of emergency vehicles parked out front. Their red and blue flashing lights lit up the dim street, and created bright flashes which bounced off the windows. He nodded and said, "It's a shame it had to be a medical facility. Probably created a lot of problems for their patients."

"I think I know that place." Shayera said slowly.

"Really?" John said in surprise, "How?"

Her face was contorted in concentration as she tried to place the white symbol on the building. It took her a few minutes, but finally, her face relaxed as she remembered. It had been quite some time before, but she said confidently, "It's not the building that's familiar but the symbol that's on the front. That flower. I've seen it on some doctors I met some time ago. They submitted a request before the invasion to study me."

"Study you?" John said in shock, "Why would they want to do that?"

"Plenty of governments and businesses asked the League for me to undergo testing for medical purposes." She explained in a relaxed tone, "Similar requests have been made for J'onn, Wally, Clark, and Diana. You and Bruce are pretty much the only ones whose DNA construction is completely human, so you never have to worry about these things. The League's policy is to deny all testing unless there are extenuating circumstances. Batman and J'onn handled most of the requests, but this place was strange."

"What was different about them?" He frowned.

"I was approached by one of their representatives directly at a United Nations function. Remember when Bruce made us go to that dinner in Belgium? We had to dress formally and attend that awful dinner. You spilled your soup on the Prime Minister of Namibia." Her light laugh made him struggle to keep a smile from spreading across his face.

"Of course that's what you remember." He rolled his eyes.

"Well, someone from the company was seated at my table. He practically drooled over my wings, which I thought was pretty creepy. Most people are curious, but he looked at me like most people look at a steak. I didn't like it." She involuntarily shuddered, "How could I help advance medicine anyway? Human and Thanagarian physiology is different in several areas. There's no telling if studying me could actually help anyone. In fact, there's the possibility it could cause more harm than good."

"Well, you don't have to worry about that." John assured.

"Now I wonder if I shouldn't have accepted one of their offers. Maybe it would tell us more about the baby and what he or she will be like." She absentmindedly passed her hand over her stomach. Her eyes never left the screen, but John could tell that she was anxious. Maybe she would be until the day their little one was born.

He reached out and placed his hand over her's. The scratches that she had picked up over her months on the run had finally started to heal, and all that was left were a series of light pink marks which patterned her skin. His calloused fingers rubbed across them slowly as he assured her, "Everything is going to be just fine. J'onn said there's nothing to worry about, and even if there is a problem, we have the best medical team possible to handle it. You don't have to feel like you have you put yourself through a bunch of experiments."

"It doesn't stop the fact that I would risk the lives of so many people just to help this one."

He watched her eyes flicker down to their entwined hands and saw the heavy guilt there. Quietly, he slipped his fingers around hers so that the pads of his fingers were pressed to the soft fabric covering her stomach. Underneath the thin material, he could feel the settle motions of their child moving, turning and kicking happily. With complete confidence, he said, "I understand. I feel the same way."

Her surprised eyes flashed up to meet his. The green oceans told him what he could already read in the settle inflections of her voice - that she had thought herself a monster. The woman before him had nearly sacrificed her life to save Earth, but the same people she had tried to save thought her as bad as the rest of the invaders. And she had spent the last few months thinking that they were probably right.

His other hand rose slowly to brush against her smooth cheek. Even after the few weeks she had been with her friends, John still thought that Shayera's skin was too tight over her face when it should have been fuller with the weight of pregnancy. It worried him, but at that moment, when she closed her eyes and allowed herself to lean into his touch, he could feel nothing but hope. He rubbed his thumb over her jaw in a soothing motion and whispered, "It's part of what makes you human, Shay. Every mother is willing to do some unethical things if it means protecting her child. I would be more worried if you didn't feel that way."

"I'm worried." She admitted quietly.

"I know." He placed his forehead against hers, "But we got this."

"Hmm." She nodded with a tight smile as she pulled away from him, "You have to be on duty soon. You should be finishing your breakfast, not cuddling with me. Can't fight bad guys without the proper nutrition."

"Who said I can't do both? I'm sure that Bruce wouldn't mind me being a few minutes late." The wiggle of his eyebrows made her giggle.

She turned back to the screen, "You'll probably have to go check that out this morning. Even if it was just an accident, there's bound to be major problems in the city for the rest of the day. Especially if they don't reopen those streets soon. Plus, the major might ask the League to step in and get that medical equipment delivered more quickly."

"You're probably right." John said as he took a sip of his coffee.

She nodded in agreement, "Hopefully they can make repairs quickly." Then, she huffed as she stood up, "Damn. This kid's pressing on my bladder."

John was glad that she chose that moment to leave the room because he saw something on the screen that made his blood run cold. He grabbed the remote and turned the television to a different station, then shouted a quick goodbye to Shayera. Then, he rushed out of the apartment to find Bruce. Something was definitely wrong.


	31. Chapter 31

Clark's night had been quite amusing. He forgot how intense things got when he and Lois worked on a story together. For most of the time since she had returned home from D.C., they had worked on completely different stories. After he had moved all of her boxes out of storage and into their apartment, which Bruce had assured him would be monitored at all times for safety purposes, she had gone to get coffee. What she had not told him was that coffee involved the eight cups she had gotten from the shop down the street plus three canisters to put in their coffee machine for the next morning. They probably had enough coffee in their apartment at that moment to survive the apocalypse. She hadn't said it, but Clark was sure that she didn't plan on sleeping that night, which meant that he wouldn't either.

Then, Lois had set about spreading out all of the information in their kitchen. She always kept at least a dozen cork boards in her office, which she had quickly pulled out and began the process of organizing papers and pinning things. Within an hour, the mess had spread into the dining room and she had sent Clark to the store to get yarn. At least six colors, she had instructed. By the time she had started to connect the various clippings and documents with the bright fibers, the Man of Steel had to admit his girlfriend looked like a stalker. And not the casual Facebook kind of stalker, but the successful, stay-at-least-two-hundred-feet-away-due-to-the-restraining-order kind of stalkers. While she worked, he sipped his latte at the table and sifted through the piles of papers that she had instructed him to work on.

Around nine the next morning, Clark heard the unmistakable sound of the front door opening and closing rather forcefully. He smiled to himself as he continued to read papers before him while Lois was so consumed by her work she didn't even bother to look up. Like the Krypton thought, Bruce Wayne walked in just a few minutes later with a briefcase in one hand and a cup of coffee in the other. He was dressed in a simple sweater and jeans and like nearly every other moment of his life, had a slightly annoyed expression. Setting his briefcase on the table, he sighed and asked, "Do we have anything thus far?"

Lois jumped in surprise, but managed to keep her voice calm as she continued working, "I thought you were going to wait for me to come up to the Watchtower? I was going to have a briefing prepared for you in the afternoon."

Bruce sighed again, "There's hardly any need for the secrecy or formality. Everyone knows your puppy boy of a man told you my identity months ago. He's barely able keep it to himself who he gets for secret santa every year, let alone what I do when I'm not in uniform. It's a surprise that the world doesn't know he's Superman already. I needed to get out of the office nonetheless. Diana received the floor plans you sent with Clark, and after passing them onto her, there was really nothing more I could do up there. I can be the most helpful here. Tell me where we're at."

Lois nodded solemnly and pointed to the board in front of her. She had placed a number of photos in a circle. Only about five held actual pictures while the remaining ten or so had silhouettes with large question marks drawn over them. Her long fingers slid over the photos as her soft voice began, "I'm putting together the network of workers and board members. The Board of Directors, as you've probably figured it out, is very secret, but I managed to get several of their names from my investigation. Unfortunately, it was shut down before I could strongly connect them to the crimes they were funding. However, I am confident that these five individuals were compliant in the illegal testing that occurred in these facilities."

"I can fill in many of these faces." Bruce assured her as he examined her board.

"Clark's right. You are fast." Lois gave him an awed look.

"I like what I do." Bruce said shortly.

"Additionally, I have a road map of where some of their materials are coming from, where they are going to, what their experiments entail, and so many other horrible details. If nothing else, the experiments they run often violate not just the rights of nonhuman entities they've captured, but in many cases, actual humans. Some of what they've done has to amount to torture, murder, and even kidnapping. I have folders of evidence that Board Members are directly involved in the selection of projects and how they go about making their findings." Lois said all of this with a look of sheer determination on her face. She motioned to her boards while she was speaking, and Bruce was astonished by how much she had managed to collect. It must have taken her a long time to find all that she had before them. The Lotus Foundation was a well-funded, well-protected organization. It was difficult for him to acquire what he had, and he was using the most advanced technology money could buy. For a reporter, this was quite impressive. _No wonder Clark's so taken with her_ , Bruce thought.

Batman nodded in approval, "This will definitely help with the case I'm starting."

Lois turned to look him in the eye, "I would like to be part of the work to bring these monsters to justice. Clark's identity could be brought into question if he's involved, but my name is already connected to this work. It wouldn't be a shock to anyone if I kept digging up information under the radar. Plus, you can't be the one to do it. If man whore/billionaire Bruce Wayne suddenly tried to become an anti-corruption hero, could you imagine the scandal?" She laughed at the end.

Bruce didn't smile, but turned to Clark and asked seriously, "You're really okay with her taking this kind of risk?"

Clark shook his head, but grinned ruefully, "No, but we both know that Lois can make her own decisions. We promised each other a long time ago we wouldn't hold each other back from trying to do our jobs. That's what I'd be doing if I tried to tell her what to do right now. The sides, I can hardly tell her she can't try to bring down a nefarious international corporation considering what I do most days."

Lois looked at Clark proudly, "Plus, it's not like I'm lacking in home security."

Clark shook his head even as he laughed, "You see how I'm-"

Suddenly, the door to the apartment was slammed shut violently. Clark and Bruce shared a split second dark look before John Stewart stormed into the middle of the kitchen. His eyes were glowing a dangerous, unnatural shade of emerald and his whole body was tense with anger. In a harsh, unforgiving voice, he growled, "When were either of you going to tell me you were investigating the Lotus Foundation in connection to Shayera's attack?"

Batman's response was immediate, "When you needed to know."

John turned to Bruce and shouted, "You didn't think I needed to know when you sent Diana to New York? Because I almost didn't believe it when I saw her on television this morning."

"Diana was on TV?" Lois said in horror.

"In a story about an explosion in the middle of New York City." John said gravely.

"I told you she needs to have the word covert explained to her." Superman said lightly.

"Do you think she was seen?" Batman said in as close as he got to a worried voice.

John pinched the bridge of his nose, "There was no way to recognize her unless someone had already seen her dressed as a civilian. She blended in well considering. I wouldn't expect anyone else to have identified her, but you took a huge gamble in sending her in there without any backup! Are you insane? Did you even think about the ramifications if she had been caught?"

"Of course. But we weighed it against the risk of getting too many people involved too fast." Bruce glared at the Lantern as he spoke.

"No." John countered, "That's not it at all. The truth is that you are a control freak and refuse to accept any help that you don't explicitly need. We both know that if you could have kept this from me until you had connected all the dots, fought the bad guys yourself, and had everyone behind bars, you would have done just that. You are insufferably egotistical and selfish!"

"Hey, give him a break." Diana said casually from the doorway. She was dressed in the same purple silk top and black pencil skirt John had seen her in earlier on television. Her hair was coiled perfectly in a french twist and glasses covered her eyes. Despite her beauty, John had to admit, it was hard to tell her daytime occupation.

"Diana!" Lois rushed to wrap the Amazon in her arms, "Thank goodness you're okay."

Diana towered above Lois's short form by at least six inches. The taller woman awkwardly patted the mortal's back with her arms still crushed to her side from the hug. Meanwhile, the warrior's eyes locked with her boyfriend, his blue orbs glazed over with relief. She smiled reassuringly before looking towards John and saying clearly, "We didn't want anyone overreacting and going in unprepared."

As Lois released her, Diana heard John say sarcastically, "Seems like the three of you covered the unprepared stuff for me."

"And you should be glad we did." The princess glared at her comrade.

"Why?" John barked.

Wonder Woman raised her chin and responded, "Because I know what they want." She turned to look at Superman, "And I know who they are. There's no question about it, Lex Luthor is directly involved." Superman gawked as she finally settled her eyes on Bruce, "And I think I know what we have to do next. It's going to take all of us, and it's going to be big."

Bruce chuckled and said, "Bring it on."

Lois nodded, "I'm in."

Superman snarled, "If it means putting Luthor behind bars where he belongs, I'll do whatever it takes."

Lantern nodded solemnly, "Anything for Shayera."

Diana smiled, "And we all know that J'onn's in."

Bruce smiled menacingly as he came forward to embrace his girlfriend and said, "Then let's see what you got for your trouble."


	32. Chapter 32

"John hasn't been home except to sleep in nearly a week. What do you think that means?" Shayera asked Wally as she stuck another spoonful of raspberry yogurt in her mouth. She was leaning back in one of Bruce's rolling chairs, with her feet propped up on the edge of the keyboard in front of her. The monitor before her showed a series of news feeds, none of which held anything of particular concern for the League. Wally was laying on the floor, limbs sprawled out in every direction, eyes closed as he tried to doze off. He had been on call nearly every day for the last week, and even though Wally had more energy than the whole rest of the League combined, he was starting to feel the toll of his work schedule.

These afternoon hangout sessions had become a regular occurrence for the pair. Wally had always hated monitor duties while Shayera had been dying to get back to doing something - anything really - useful. John had blackballed her from the gym despite J'onn assuring him that she could return to a light workout regime, she hated cleaning the apartment, and there was next to nothing else she could do since she wasn't technically a League member anymore. Not that she had a strong desire to hang out with most of the newer members. Other than the Arrow, Supergirl, and very few others, most of the new recruits were apprehensive about getting to know her, to say the least. Wally, however, couldn't give two shits what the rest of the League thought. He had invited her to join him on his monitor shifts and no one bothered to complain since there wasn't anything she could do there except stare at the screen. So, for the last two weeks, Shayera had basically been taking Wally's shifts and he had been napping on the floor. It made both of them much happier.

After a moment, Wally lazily replied without opening his eyes, "That he's busy."

"That's what worries me." She murmured in return.

Wally opened one eye in curiosity, "What, you think he's cheating on you?"

"No." Shayera rolled her eyes, "Worse. I think that's he's working something without me."

"Why?" Wally opened both of his eyes then and pulled his arms in behind his head as a makeshift pillow. Looking at his friend with raised eyebrows, he continued, "The League has been swamped recently with natural disasters. He's probably just gone so much because we have a limited number of heroes allowed to lead teams. You know how Bats is about making sure that only the Originals or someone we're cool with is on every mission."

Shayera frowned, "Yeah, but it's more than that."

"Like what?" Wally asked incredulously.

Putting down her snack, Shayera sat up and turned towards Wally, "Have you noticed that no one has given me an update on what's going on since I've been here? I know that John has been insisting I relax, but usually he would at least tell me good news to make it seem like everything is going well. He hasn't come home, but when he does, his mind always seems elsewhere. Then there's the fact that he's so anxious. He's constantly worrying about me and the baby, which I expected, but not to this degree. It's like he's worried that someone's going to come up to the tower and take us. I'm worried about him."

"Wings, you're reading _way_ too much into this." Wally dismissed.

"You do stuff like this all the time!" She mocked.

"And you try to knock some sense into me!" He laughed, "Besides, there are so many more things that you should be more concerned about than John."

"Like what?" She asked loudly.

It was in that moment that Wally realized the mistake he had made. He was treading a thin line here, but if he was careful, he could stop Shayera from a full on freak out. Wracking his brain for something to say that wouldn't cause her more distress, Wally began, "Um…."

But that was all that came out. He couldn't think of anything that wouldn't make her angry. There was the whole Vixen thing, but reminding a very pregnant Thanagarian about her boyfriend's very recent model ex-girlfriend perhaps was not the best idea. He could say that there were some very bad people hunting her down, but that would just lead her back to the idea that John was keeping something from her. He could say her health, but then she would clobber him for making her seem weak. She hated for others to think of her as weak. Every scenario that went through his head was a bad one. Finally, his frantic thoughts were interrupted when Shayera demanded, "Just say what you were going to say, Wally!"

Suddenly, a thought entered his brain that went straight out of his mouth, "Like getting ready for the baby! You've got, what? Another two months, give or take a week? You have so much to do before you pop out little Wally Junior!"

Shayera rolled her eyes, "John would veto that name in a heartbeat."

"See, you need to get on naming the little guy or girl." Wally said quickly, "Most women have their list of baby names made years before they start thinking about kids. I'm pretty sure that Linda's had her's since she was thirteen. And if you don't find out the sex ahead of time, you're going to have to think of one for a boy and one for a girl."

Shayera looked taken aback, "It takes that long to decide a name?"

"Well, it has to go well with the middle name. Do Thanagarians have middle names?" He wondered.

"No." She said shortly.

Wally nodded excitedly, "And then you have to get the nursery ready. Do you guys even have an extra room in your apartment?"

Shayera's eyes widened, "We have so much stuff stored in the extra room."

"Yeah." Wally smiled, knowing that he had distracted her, "You have to get it painted soon. Then there's all the furniture you're going to need. Human babies need dressers, cribs, changing tables, and Linda's cousin even has a mini-fridge for her baby's room so they can store milk there. It takes so much shopping to prepare for a baby. In fact, you probably should have started while we were still at Bats house.." He was fairly certain he wasn't even exaggerating, although he had been trying to do so.

"I've got to go, Wally." Shayera stood up unexpectedly.

She stepped over Wally as he stared after her in surprise. He wasn't sure he wanted to know, but…, "Shay, where are you going?"

* * *

John Stewart was exhausted. Extremely exhausted.

Leaning back on the couch in Clark's living room, he allowed himself to momentarily close his eyes. He hadn't left this room for more than a few hours since he had found out about the Lotus Foundation. When he did leave, it was always to catch a few hours of sleep with Shayera, maybe a shower or snack, make sure he wasn't missing a doctor's appointment, and then he came straight back. God, he missed just sitting with her and taking in her presence. He hadn't had breakfast with her since he started coming to Clark's place.

But if he left, then he would wonder how many more mornings he would get to wake up next to her before she was dead. If he could just catch these sons of bitches, then he could go back to the way things had been before he had a name to chase. When it was just him, Shay, and their little bump in the kitchen eating waffles. Or cereal if you were nauseous like Shay. Now he felt like he was letting Shayera down by not being there, but letting all of them down by actually being there.

Worse, he felt like he was getting nowhere and Lois was pulling all of the weight in organizing evidence. Bruce had banned him from going out in the field because he was "too emotional." Meaning that only Diana and J'onn were allowed to do field work for the investigation. Superman and Batman were trying to help, but Batman still pulled most of the weight for the administrative part of the League while Superman was covering nearly twice as many missions. He was left to essentially be Lois's unqualified assistant.

A bright burst of light behind his closed eyelids caused John to sit up in surprise. Standing before him was none other than Wally, still dressed in his suit, though with his hood pulled back to show his pale face and fire engine red hair. Looking apologetic and embarrassed, Wally ran his hand through his messy locks and said, "GL, I'm really sorry, but I think I overdid the whole 'distraction' bit."

John sighed and put his elbows on his knees, "What did you do?"

"It's really better if you go look, buddy." Wally said with pleading eyes, "Please, G. I tried to talk her down, but I think I just worked her up into an even worse state. It was an accident, I swear!"

"Fine." John threw the file he was reading tiredly on the coffee table, "Maybe you can do more than I can."

Gribbing John's wide shoulders in his gloved hands, Wally looked at him with deep appreciation and said, "I have never been more thankful for you and your shiny bald head than I am in this moment. You are truly a kind soul." Then he embraced the Lantern in a tight hug.

It was then that John began to panic. Struggling slightly, but not making much progress at escaping the hug, John asked, "Wally, what exactly am I going home to?"

"Something bad, man. Something real bad." Was all the speedster could say.


	33. Chapter 33

When John arrived at the apartment, he could hear the rap music from outside the door. It wasn't anything he knew, but Shayera was often borrowing CDs from Clark and Bruce, both of whom kept extensive collections in the Watchtower. Turning the knob carefully, he opened the door, causing the music to go from muted to blasting loudly immediately. The strong beat was vibrating through the floor, and the angry lyrics bounced off the walls and down the hall, causing more than one hero to turn and look in shock. Closing the door quietly, he made his way towards the epicenter of the music, somewhere towards the extra bedroom.

When he turned down the hallway, however, he was startled by the piles of boxes stacked precariously high throughout the short corridor. Just as he blinked in astonishment, several articles of clothing were tossed out the door to the spare room and on top of another box. Suddenly, it dawned on him what Shayera was doing. He had planned to start work on the nursery soon, but had simply been too preoccupied as of late. Hurrying through the door, John found Shayera lifting another large box that must have weighed fifty pounds. While he logically knew that she had the strength to move such items, the over protective instinct in his DNA kicked into overdrive and he lunged for the case. In a much harsher tone than he intended, he scolded, "Shayera, what do you think you're doing?"

As he lifted the heavy container out of her arms, she huffed in annoyance. She was only exacerbated more when he used his elbow to turn off her music on the way out. _Count on Wally to tattle_ , she thought unhappily. She might have allowed John to take the box from her, but the moment he turned towards the hall, she reached for another one. As she grabbed the next cardboard bundle, she said loudly, "Just what it looks like. I'm getting ready for the baby."

John was in front of her quickly and snatched the second box from her, "And you couldn't have waited until I got home?"

She put her hands on her hips and snapped, "You're busy. And I am perfectly capable of assembling a space for the baby. I'm simply moving everything out so that tomorrow I can paint."

With one eye twitching slightly, John asked, "Have you ever painted before?"

"That's beside the point." Shayera brushed off the comment, "I called Linda, and she said that she could help me pick out a color and get started tomorrow. Then, we're going furniture shopping."

"And who said it was safe to leave the Watchtower?" John shouted.

Sending John a glare that could kill, Shayera growled, "Batman said it would be fine as long as Wally accompanied us and we allowed Bruce to choose the location. He's waiting until just before we leave so that there's no way to guess where he's sending us ahead of time. You don't get to accuse me of carelessness."

"Well, I'm going with you." He said finally.

"No you're not." She answered quickly, "I promised Linda it would be a girl's afternoon."

"Wally's going." John countered.

"Wally talks girl better than I do." Shayera shrugged.

"Too bad, I'm going too. I don't want you leaving the tower without me." He said firmly.

"Why not?" She demanded.

"Maybe because the last time you were on Earth, you nearly got blown up by goddamn assassins! I think that gives me a little bit of a right to be paranoid!" He yelled.

"John!" She shouted back, "If you have the time to take a day off, take a fucking nap! You need one! I can handle getting a few supplies for the baby's room. It's really not a big deal! JUST CALM DOWN AND RELAX!"

"That's what you're supposed to be doing!" He said in exasperation.

Brushing her wavy hair out of her face, Shayera sighed and said in a much quieter voice, "All I've done for the last few weeks is relax. Now we're completely unprepared to bring home an infant and we only have a few weeks left of this pregnancy. Wally brought up a valid point, John. We don't even have a name picked out. And knowing how rarely we agree on anything, we're never going to be able to agree on one. Then I have this list of things we have to do before the baby comes and it just keeps getting longer and _longer!_ "

She finally closed her eyes in stress, and John felt the frustration leave his body. Instead, he felt guilt at leaving the mother of his child, who needed him now more than ever, alone. Wrapping his arms around her, he bent down to brush his lips over her temple. Instantly, her slight but insanely strong arms pulled him tightly against her. He smiled as he felt the large swell of her stomach, where his son or daughter was nestled safely. Whispering quietly, he promised, "I'll take you shopping, not because I don't trust Wally, but because I want to go with you. I want to be part of every part of this baby's life. You don't have to count on everyone else. You can count on me."

"I know you're tired." She said to his chest.

"So are you, even if you won't admit it." He smiled, knowing that he was right. Breathing in her scent, he said thoughtfully, "I think green would be a nice color for the walls."

She laughed humorlessly, "That's not egotistical."

He rolled his eyes, "Not a Lantern green. A lighter shade, maybe sea foam green?"

He could feel her cheeks grow in a smile, "That would be nice."

"See, if you ask me, I can be very helpful." His deep voice was laced with laughter.

"Okay, you can go with me." She finally conceded. Pulling back to look him in the eyes, Shayera rubbed up and down his arm with one hand and with her other, laid her palm gently against his cheek and pleaded, "But only if you lay down with me right now and take a nap. You need the sleep just as much as I do."

He nodded solemnly and said brokenly, "God, it's been a long couple of days."

She stood on her tiptoes to reach his lips and brushed a soft kiss over his lips. He moved to deepen the kiss, but she laughed and shook her head. Taking his large hands in her petite ones, she pulled him towards their bedroom. He mischievously smiled and asked, "What? Are you trying to seduce me already?"

"Oh, Lantern." She said seriously, "You would know if I was trying to seduce you."

Pushing the door to their room open, she turned to look at him once more and added, "But maybe if you're good now, I'll consider having my way with you later."

"Is that a threat or a promise?" He joked.  
"Depends on how good you are." She said with a raise of her eyebrows.


	34. Chapter 34

The gentle pressure of lips against his temple woke John many hours later. Shayera had pulled him out of a deep sleep, yet he felt amazingly refreshed. It was like being woken from the best of naps in the afternoon sun and feeling the clean, delicious air of the forests enter your lungs. Next to Shayera, he felt like he was in paradise.

Another kiss was tenderly placed at the corner of his right eye and her lips just skimmed the ends of his eyelashes as she crossed his face to do the same to his left. Smiling, but not opening his eyes, John turned on his side and wrapped one arm around his girlfriend's lower back. As he pulled her closer to himself, the warm blanket of one of her pale gray wings slid protectively over his body, sending shivers through his muscular body. He smiled even wider at how attuned she was to what made him happy, even after their time apart. They had always seemed to share one mind when it came to things that didn't require talking. Even as he thought this, he could feel her kiss the corner of his mouth, and when she didn't then move onto a deep kiss, he growled. Her soft giggle made him open his eyes and ask lazily, "You really going to tease a man like that so early in the morning?"

The sight before him was incredible. Their room was dark, with the only lights coming from the pale speckles of far off stars and the glorious blue and green Earth below them in their window and the dim light of his alarm clock illuminating the space. Still, he could make out her pale face and hair which was tossed with her movements during the night. Shayera had never been a restful sleeper, usually stealing the covers, kicking out with her limbs often, and awakening early despite never going to bed at a decent hour. She was dressed only in a thin nightgown he had bought her shortly after she moved in, leaving her shoulders bare to the cold air in the room. Automatically, he reached out to rub up and down her slim, exposed arm. Instead, his bed partner stopped his hand on her shoulder with one of her own and then pressed another kiss to his knuckles. Without lifting her face, she spoke softly so that he could feel her warm breathe against his fist, "Just making sure you were alive. You slept so long that I was worried."

"How long was I out?" He asked quietly.

"It's almost five in the morning." She said with a smile, "So around fourteen hours."

He groaned and pinched his eyes shut, "Damn. I had so much that I intended to do yesterday."

She stretched out one leg and found his much longer one not far from herself. With a flirtatious look, Shayera let the pad of her foot travel slowly down the back of his calf and then back up once she could extend her reach no further. He opened his eyes again to look at her in surprise and she whispered, "I liked having you here. Keeping my bed warm, if quite noisy."

"Still not a fan of the snoring?" He joked.

"If we go shopping, Wally said there are band aids for your nose." She said blissfully.

Groaning loudly, John complained, "Nasal strips are uncomfortable, Shay."

She leaned close to his face, and he stretched forward in an attempt to meet her lips. Finally, he would get the kiss he had been waiting for. At the last second, though, Shayera placed a singular finger over his puckered mouth and said, "So is celibacy. I suggest you consider which is more difficult to live with."

He sighed, "You're never going to change, are you?"

She shook her head and nestled more comfortably into her pillow, "Nope."

As she lowered her hand to his chest, he closed his eyes once more, savoring the feel of the tips of her fingers on his body. She drew wide, swirling circles on his chest, forcing his heart into a fast gallop as he sought to control the desire to flip her on her back and make her forget her own name. Instead he whispered roughly, "God, I missed you."

Sighing regretfully, she responded, "I missed you too."

"Did you really?" He asked before he could stop himself. Since they had gotten back together, they had an unspoken rule that they didn't talk about their time apart. She never questioned him about Mari and he never asked her about her months away. It was a difficult subject for both of them, and he wanted to focus on finding happiness again. She seemed to feel the same way. Nonetheless, it didn't stop them from both knowing there was a huge elephant in the room that wouldn't disappear until they faced their problems.

Shayera tilted her head to look at John more clearly, "Every minute of every day."

"Then why did you leave?" He asked the question which had been haunting his heart for the last two months.

That, she had expected. It was difficult to answer, because at the moment she had flown away from him at the manor, she had so many emotions tangled up in her. Her time away had helped to sort out some of them, but to put everything she felt into words...that was difficult. She swallowed harshly, and then began in a weak voice, "Because I needed time to come to terms with myself. All my time in the League, I thought that I was doing this grand act of kindness, and it turned out that I was digging a grave for this whole world. I almost destroyed a land I had come to love. I didn't know who I was anymore. And if I had stayed, I would have had to make choices I wasn't prepared for. What did I want to do since I was no longer a warrior? Was I prepared to fight for you though I knew I had hurt you terribly? What could I do to make things right with Earth again?" Her voice trailed off.

"Is that what you wanted? To punish yourself?" His voice shook slightly.

"In a way, I suppose. It wasn't ever something I had clearly thought out, but I guess in the back of my mind, it was what I believed I deserved. Traitors should be exiled. That's what I am, John. A traitor." Her eyes glistened with tears, but she refused to let them fall. Another thing he admired about her - she was a fighter even when she thought she wasn't one.

He pulled her even closer, letting his arm trail up her spine to rub circles between her wings. She purred with satisfaction, as he knew she would. Her head dipped below his chin, so that her breath tickled his neck. Rather than complain, though, he allowed her to get as comfortable as she could. After a while, she whispered, "If I tell you something, will you promise me you'll try to believe it? No matter how impossible it seems?"

"Yes." He said without question.

"Don't be so quick to answer." She said sadly. Swallowing back her fear that he would rebuke her, for she knew that he would think she was trying to save face, she forced herself to speak clearly, "I decided before I knew what the army had planned that I was going to leave Hro. And Thanagar for that matter." She pressed her eyes shut as soon as the words left her mouth.

John felt his body go stiff. He tried to unclench his muscles, but the weak walls he had tried to build around his heart shook frantically. The pain he had felt after she left had been so intense he hadn't thought he could survive. To risk that kind of injury again - to willingly walk into a situation that might someday leave him shattered and moronic in the eyes of his friends - it was petrifying. Yet, like whiskey to an alcoholic, he could practically taste the reward of giving in just once more. So, he was left with the choice...to believe her or to not. He wanted to trust her. Yet, how could someone as amazing as her-someone who had the perfect life, love, everything really-want to give it up. Finally, he asked, "Why would you do that?"

She sighed, "Because no matter how much I knew I should, I couldn't bring myself to go back." Leaning back, she sought to look in his eyes, but he couldn't meet her's, no matter how much he tried. Though it hurt, she knew she had earned that. She continued, "Thanagar has never been a warm, welcoming place. Not even before the war. The need for absolute obedience and loyalty is ingrained in you from the moment you are born. Honor becomes the greatest thing you can hold. Yet, I came to this soft, kind planet which my kind thought of as pathetic, and I found myself questioning everything I had known.

"Love is considered by my people to be a weakness one cannot afford to let grow," She breathed brokenly, "But you-" She inhaled deeply and continued on, "You blew into my life like the wildfire and try as I might, I couldn't put out the flames. As soon as I had one fire contained, five more had sprung up. I wanted to save Thanagar, but I was not the same Shayera Hol who had agreed to being a spy and Hro's wife. And even though I knew what I should do, I was no longer strong enough to live the cold life my honor demanded. So, if I could not give myself fully to my people, I decided, I would give myself fully to yours."

"But you returned to him." John countered, finally meeting her gaze.

Shayera nodded, "I felt I owed him a proper goodbye. Not a jilting in front of his guard and superiors. Something quiet, so he could return home and find someone else who would advance his career. That was what was important to him." She smiled sadly and her hand unintentionally moved over John's heart, "But in the process, I didn't give you what you deserved. Honesty."

John had never been a poetic guy, but looking at the woman he loved, the only woman he would ever love, he found words he had never expected. In that moment, he realized that Shayera wasn't like whiskey at all. She was like air. You needed it, relied on it, never appreciated how much it meant to you. Then, once it was gone, once you were sucked underwater and could no longer feel it's relief, you could do nothing but struggle until you reached the surface and again felt its relief. No matter how much he fought it, she had become his air. Still, he was saddened. He sighed, "I wish you had told me."

She nodded, "So do I. Now."

But he wasn't the only one who had demons. Convening all the courage he had, he said confidently, "Your turn."

Without having to ask what he meant, Shayera spoke, "Tell me about Mari."

"Wally told you her name? Of course he did." His annoyance was palpable. He sighed, knowing that he would have to explain her to Shayera eventually. Dispassionately, he stated, "She was one of the first recruits to join the League after the invasion. Her heroics were well known and she was respected by her community. She was in my group of trainees, which is where we first met only a few weeks after you left. I was angry, hurt, and Mari...well, she's known to go after what she wants." He shrugged.

"How long did you date?" She insisted on more details.

"A little over two months." He said shortly.

She could do short as well. In the same voice, she asked, "How many dates?"

"More than twenty less than thirty."

"Three most important words?"

"Not even close."

"Sex?"

He coughed in disbelief, "Um, no."

"Fine." She narrowed her eyes, "Whatever you say, I'll believe. But I want exact information on what and where."

He sighed, "Kisses, tongue action. Some shirtless activity, but nothing below the belt. You?"

She surprised him. He had thought that she would have fought revealing such details. Hell, his discomfort when he talked about Mari was obvious. However, she just shrugged and said, "Couple of kisses. Little bit of tongue. Nothing serious. The most romantic gesture Hro could come up with was bringing me some of my favorite foods. Which were delicious, but didn't do anything for romantics"

"You don't like bribery." John smiled.

"My mind could be changed if you brought me some of those pickles from the fridge." Shayera hinted with a smile. Now that her nausea had finally passed, her cravings had gone into overdrive. And since John hadn't been available for late night food runs, the only times she got what she wanted on demand was when she blackmailed Wally into it on monitor duty.

He grinned and asked, "Will that mean I'm forgiven?"

She smiled a naughty smile and said, "You tell me."

At that moment, she dove forward and slammed her lips into his. The momentum of her lunge pushed John onto his back, and before he could fully process what was happening, she was on top of him and they were making out like two teenagers in the back of a car on prom night. The only thing that was making it slightly difficult for them to be as close as they desired was the growing bump where their child was. But damn if he wasn't going to appreciate it anyway. He kissed her back passionately, and it was several long minutes before they finally separated, with her still straddling his lap.

She whimpered sadly and said unhappily, "This pregnancy is messing with my hormones. I can't decide what I want more - sex or food."

"Usually, I would be offended, but I think you're upset enough for both of us," John said with a smile as he looked up at her with a dumbfounded look. Even this confused and melancholy, she was still the most beautiful sight he could recall. Thinking fast, he said, "What if I go get you those pickles, you eat, brush your teeth, and then we can take a nice, long shower together? I might even rub your back."

She looked at him in happy surprise and said in a content voice, "Another reason why I'm in love with you, John Stewart."

His heart soared as he responded, "I love you too, Shayera."


	35. Chapter 35

Wally West was finally in his apartment after another long hard day of fighting bad guys. Since John had decided to spend more time with Shayera in the last months of her pregnancy (apparently all those birthing classes were not optional. Whatever), Wally had been picking up his field assignments. It really didn't bother him to do the work, but he was starting to miss his time with Linda. They hadn't had a date since before Bruce's house blew up which was weeks ago. It had been eleven days since they had sat down together to have a meal, and the last lunch they ate was a box of energy bars and some oreos in Linda's car outside her work. Their last more than five sentences conversation had been six days ago when he called to tell her he would be home late yet again. And most importantly, they hadn't had sex in three weeks. Three long weeks. But at that moment, the Flash only wanted to cuddle his girlfriend while he enjoyed the twelve glorious hours of sleep the Batman had guaranteed him.

Linda had told him she would be home around eight, and it was ten after the hour with no sign of her. The hero laid in his bed between the rumpled blankets neither he nor Linda ever bothered to fold, and stared at his clock. After what seemed like an eternity, the ten changed to an eleven, but still nothing in the apartment moved. The quiet hum of the streets below were the only noises which echoed off the walls and the lights remained unilluminated. Despite his exhaustion, the thin redhead pulled his arms behind his head as a makeshift pillow and fought to stay awake. Linda had said the washer had been making some weird noises for the last week. Maybe it wouldn't hurt to give it a look.

* * *

Linda carefully slid the key Wally had given her into the door and twisted it to the right so it made only the tiniest of clicks before releasing the latch to the apartment. Then, holding her breathe as to not make a sound, she turned the knob and slowly allowed the heavy door to move inwards. She cringed slightly when it let out a piercing creak in protest, but luckily, there was no response from inside the abode. She assumed Wally was still working on his case and he might not be home until late.

It was difficult to get the two duffels she was carrying, which stuffed to the brim with party supplies, through the slim doorway but she managed to do it without dropping anything, which she thought was a major accomplishment. She gently kicked the door shut, and then dumped her load on the kitchen counter before turning towards the hallway. It surprised her when she could see streaks of light coming from the laundry room at the end of the hall. Perhaps she had left it on when she washed her boyfriend's uniforms that afternoon. She shrugged to herself and slipped off her flats before meandering towards the beams peaking out beneath the closed door.

As she opened the door, though, she was surprised to find Wally sitting on the floor, amongst various parts of what she supposed must be the washer. At least, she was guessing that's what it was because the space where her appliance had been before only held a skeleton of the contraption, with bits and pieces hanging out. The door wasn't even attached any longer. While the image of the broken machine filled her with horror, the sleeping form of her love, leaning back against the wall with his eyes closed in sleep, made her so happy she thought she might burst. He sure as hell didn't know how to fix things around the house, but it was sweet that he still tried.

She bent down next to him and shook his shoulder gently, "Wally. Wally, wake up."

Immediately, he sat straight up, though his eyes kept their sleepy haze, and muttered, "I'm awake."

She smiled and motioned to the machine, "So, hotshot. How's your work coming."

He sighed and rubbed his eyes with his fists, "God, I'm so fucking done. I don't even care anymore. I'm calling mercy. Tomorrow, I'll go see if Greg downstairs can come up and maybe he can figure it out. God knows that he's better with this shit that I am."

She nodded in agreement, "It's probably better to put the washer out of its misery for the night."

He let his head fall back against the wall once again and asked, "Hey, I thought you were going to be home earlier. Where were you?"

She sighed and sat down beside him. Without question, he tossed his long arm over her slender shoulders and pulled her against his chest. She kicked a few of the screws and cords aside with her legs as she said, "John asked me to help plan a baby shower for Shayera. She refuses to put one on herself, but he thinks that if he surprises her, she'll suck it up. I've been helping her get the baby's room ready and things have been going well so he thought I could make a get together that she could tolerate."

"She's still not going to like it." Wally said confidently.

"Oh, she's going to hate it." Linda agreed completely.

"How bad?" He asked while pressing a kiss to her hair.

Linda laughed and said, "Well, let's just say I finished the invitations, which he wanted specially printed. They are lavender, with white ribbon trim, and the words are written in old lady calligraphy. Then, there's the balloons, gift bags, party games, name suggestion box, and about a million other things he wants there. Plus, even though he said not to, I set up a gift registry because who knows what League members would bring if they didn't have suggestions. They'd probably just get her a weapon of some sort, which would really put John out. Oh, and did I mention that he got her a huge, fluffy, lacy dress to wear for the occasion. It's pink."

Wally faked choking, "She's going to murder him."

"I've already have a plan on where to hide the body." Linda agreed, "But I ordered lot of cake and sweets to make up for it. Otherwise, homicide really puts a wrench in a party."

"You are literally the best girlfriend ever." Wally sighed contently.

"I am, aren't I?" She giggled. Then, her smile fell as she looked into his eyes and asked, "Can I ask you something?"

"Yeah." He said hesitantly.

"So." She started slowly, "I know we haven't been together that long, but I really like you. I mean, like, _really_ like you, and I think you like me too. At least, you've given me a key to your apartment and we hang out a lot. And I know that you're idea of a long term commitment is making a box of cookies last for longer than a week, but I've been spending a lot of time with Shayera and John, and...well…" She sighed as she struggled to the words, "I'm just going to come out and say it. Do you want a baby someday?"

Wally's heart felt like it stopped in his chest. Every word in his brain was jumbled together, and although he was trying to piece together a coherent thought, all that came out was, "Um...well...you see…"

"Wally, it's okay." The disappointment in her voice was clear. She looked away and pulled back from his embrace. However, he refused to release her, using his arm to keep her close to him.

"Do you think you're…?" He trailed off and looked pointedly at her stomach.

Realizing what he thought, her face contorted in horror and she practically screamed, "Oh, god! No! That's not what this is about at all!"

Letting out a sigh of relief, Wally said happily, "Someday. Someday in the far off future I would like to have a baby with you, Linda, but right now I'm kind of a hot mess. Yeah, I got the hero thing going for me, but I just…. I want to have longer with just you and me before I think about making another little Flash. Plus, you know, maybe get a house first with a working washer and dryer."

"But when you do have a baby...you want it to be with me?" She asked hopefully.

"Yeah." Wally said happily, "I think I'd like that."

Linda smiled in victory and said, "Alright then. In the far off future it is."

Wally smiled. He wasn't sure what had just happened, but he had avoided a fight, and for now that was enough to keep him from worrying. Looking at the open door, he asked, "So, is there anyway we could finish this conversation in bed?"

"What do you have in mind?" She asked with raised eyebrows.

Wally looked at her sadly and said, "I want to so bad, but I'm so tired."

"In the morning then." She said with a playful shrug.

"I adore you." Wally said as he picked her up and carried her to the bedroom.


	36. Chapter 36

"So where are we at?" Lois felt Clark's strong hands bury his thumbs into the tense knots in her shoulders as he spoke from behind her. She jumped slightly in surprise, but quickly sighed as he kneaded every sore spot he found. Inhaling deeping, she smelled the spicy scent of his cologne, making her smile. Even after all the time they had been together, she still felt relief course through her with just his entrance into the room. She loved the apartment, but it felt even more like home when he was there.

She leaned back into his stomach from where she was seated at the table. Her work was spread out before her in various piles that had multicolored tabs sticking out, and a notebook next to her kept track of her thoughts as she continued her investigation. The last week had seen steady progress, but she was still sorting through documents to create an ironclad case against the individuals involved. It was difficult, especially when she was trying to keep up with her work from the newspaper, which was demanding to say the least, but she was determined to see this through. Closing her eyes in bliss from the massage, she whispered, "Stressed and overworked."

"That means you're doing your job right." Clark smiled to himself.

"Don't remind me." Lois chided him, "Oh, you have to call your mother back."

Clark paused, "She called? What did she want?"

Lois smiled at the worry in his voice and reminded him, "She wants to make plans for Christmas. If we're going to fly back Kansas, we need to book tickets soon. Otherwise, she offered to come here. I told her I would talk to Kara and see what worked best for her."

"Would it bother you to spend the holidays on a tiny little farm?" He wondered.

She laughed, "Clark, I'm not a snob. A week or two in Kansas isn't going to kill me."

He leaned down to kiss her temple, "I love you."

She reached up to put her hand on his cheek gently. He turned his face into her affectionate caress as she said sweetly, "If you really love me, you'll sit down and talk through this with me."

He chuckled, "I should have known something like that was coming."

Even though it was nearly midnight, he pulled out one of the empty chairs and sat back so that she could process her thoughts out loud. It was something they had done for years. Just telling the other what they had accomplished so far could help the other figure out what they still needed to do and perhaps what direction to pursue. Meanwhile, the other could give ideas on what to do next or where to get information. It might have sounded like just a work arrangement, but for them it was so much more. They were asking each other how their days went - to share their successes and support the other in their failures. More than that, they were showing the other that no matter how boring or scary the story, they were still in it together.

That's what made Lois the happiest. Clark never treated her differently because she wasn't a superhero. Sure, he would sometimes remind her to take caution. After all, if she got shot, it wasn't the bullet that was going to have the regret at the end of the day. She was a little bit more physically fragile than he was (emotionally, however, she had him beat easily), but she treasured this time between the two of them because it always reminded her that he thought her work was just as important as his. She might not dress up in a fancy costume and save people from fires each day, but she still put her own good into the world, one article at a time. And even though he was tired every night, he would sit down and make her feel like her work was still valuable. Just like she did for him. He might be a Kryptonian who had extraordinary abilities and who was part of one of the most amazing organizations of superheroes to ever exist, but he still viewed her as an equal.

Looking at her incredible boyfriend, she couldn't help but feel pride. Quickly, she flicked through her notebook to find her first page of notes and began her thoughts, "Well, here's what Bruce and I have got thus far. We know the identities of the entire controlling board of the Lotus Foundation and can connect all of them indirectly to the corporation with one exception. Most of them reside in countries with which US has an extradition treaty. However, there is a very real chance that they could actually face international criminal charges, meaning that extradition would be a moot point anyway, so we can most likely indict them all. Bruce has a meeting scheduled for me to talk to the UN Secretary General on the case, so we'll find out soon. The only issue I have is that Luthor has been in this game longer than the rest of them. He's covered his tracks much too well. So far, there's nothing showing he's involved."

Clark leaned onto the table with his elbows. His dark brows were furrowed in thought as he asked curiously, "There's nothing to connect him with the foundation? Have you looked through his company's records?"

"Yes!" She exclaimed and grabbed a tall pile of papers, "There's money going into so many shell corporations that he must be involved in illegal activity on every continent. Yet, there isn't a single trail of money that runs from Luthor or LexCorp to the Lotus Foundation. There's nothing to single money from the Foundation to Luthor either. At least, if there is, I have yet to find it."

He nodded, "Maybe we should start by figuring out streams of income for the Foundation and work our way back to the sources."

She stood up, her dark hair whipping through the air as she turned towards the living room. He could hear her still talking, but Clark's mind was suddenly filled by the sight of her behind in some very tight, very short spandex shorts. He hadn't seen her all day and couldn't help but appreciate the sight. She was pulling out a large whiteboard from behind the wall which separated the room from the kitchen when he heard the words, "What do you think?"

"About what?" He snapped back into reality.

Her lips drew into a tight line as she she sent a glare that made the Man of Steel want to shrink to the size of a mouse. One hand went to hip as she balanced the board against her chair and asked indignantly, "Clark Joseph Kent, were you paying one bit of attention to what I said?"

He shrugged, feeling slightly guilty, "I was paying attention to how you said them."  
"My ass, you mean?" She raised one eyebrow, daring him to lie to her.

"I'm sorry, sweetie. I promise if you repeat everything, I'll pay attention this time." He looked at her so earnestly, she couldn't help but feel like her heart was melted by his electric blue eyes. While she was secretly pleased that he still checked out her butt from time to time, she refused to let him get away with ignoring her so easily. She stared him down for a few minutes more, making him squirm a little, and tapped her fingers impatiently on her hip. Finally, while keeping her eye contact with her boyfriend, she reached for the end of her large sweater and pulled the fabric over her ass. This caused Clark to smirk flirtatiously and say, "Now it looks like you aren't wearing pants."

Choosing not to recognize the comment, Lois kept her face frozen and repeated, "Diana's information has allowed me to construct an annual budget for the Lotus Foundation. Using that, I was able to figure out how much profit is made each quarter and where that money is theoretically going. Taking away everything which I can match to the board members I already identified, I am left with six billion dollars unaccounted for. The money is going through nearly fifty companies that only exist on paper. From there, it is passed on to more than one hundred in companies in the Cayman Islands, Switzerland, Russia, Panama, and so many more. It only gets more complicated the longer you follow the funds. For Bruce to hack all of these places...it would be a hell of a lot of work. From there, tracking all this money could take weeks, maybe months.."

Clark frowned, "How much have you been able to track so far?"

Holding up her handmade chart, she answered solemnly, "The red writing represents dead ends that I need Bruce to work on, the blue are bank accounts made under false identities, and the black are accounts which have been closed because whoever made them must have thought they were compromised and started the process of making new holding firms."

Clark studied the chart she had created intently. Most of the writing was in red, but there were small portions in black and blue. Her organization of the material showed that she must have been over all the documents several times. Just to make sure, Clark asked, "Do you have a list of all the firm names that you know thus far?"

"Of course. Why?" She asked as she set the board against the chair and started moving papers in search for the list.

"Because he knows that I'll want to look at it." A deep voice came from behind Lois.

"Shit!" She yelped as her hand flew to her chest in panic. Turning quickly, she saw the Dark Knight leaning casually against her doorway dressed in a suit and holding an expensive coffee from the shop down the street. He removed his sunglasses with one hand, showing his threatening eyes and determinedly set brows. Breathlessly, Lois said, "I didn't hear you knock."

Without waiting for an invitation, Bruce Wayne walked over to the empty side of the table and set down his briefcase and coffee. While unbuttoning his expensive jacket, he said harshly, "I didn't. If you aren't going to lock your doors, you probably should wear pants."

Blushing furiously, Lois replied, "I have shorts on."

Ignoring her response, Bruce grabbed the list on the table and scanned through it quickly. After a short moment, his shoulders tensed and he glanced up darkly at Clark. Lois noticed the look and asked expectantly, "What is it?"

"Have you read this?" Bruce asked his coworker.

"Not yet." Clark frowned, "Why? Did you recognize one of the names?"

Bruce's nod was barely perceptible. Lois waited while Bruce scanned the rest of the list before he handed the paper over to Clark. The hero took the paper nervously and glanced over the unfamiliar names before he finally noticed halfway down the page one that rang a bell. His eyes rose to Bruce's, a smile forming even before he met his friend's pleased expression. Clark slid the paper across the table so that it sat in front of Lois, pointed to the name, and said happily, "We got him."

Lois looked at the name in confusion and asked, "Pierce Novak?"

Bruce nodded and said, "It's a name that we previously connected to his assistant Mercy Graves. At the time, we still couldn't pin the crime on her, so we decided to sit on the information until it became useful, which it obviously has. She's one of Luthor's top aids and often dabbles in his...less legal expenditures. If you can create a solid case for the connection of Pierce Novak to the Lotus Foundation, we have the information needed to connect Luthor to Novak."

"Great." Lois sighed, "But once all of this is done, how can we be sure that no one else is going to go after Shayera and the baby? The Lotus Foundation might be the only one offering a reward now, but once all of this goes public, other companies might get the same idea. Luthor is hardly the only businessman who wants to weaponize alien DNA. Who's to say what will happen once this case hits the papers."

"It's simple." Bruce said menacingly, "We are going to demolish these board members."

Clark sighed, "For once, I have to agree with you."

"What do you mean?" Lois was confused again.

Clark bit his tongue, deciding to let this explanation go to Bruce. Looking at his friend for approval, Bruce finally spoke to Lois again, this time a little nervous. Taking a deep breathe, he began, "The only way to make sure this doesn't happen again is to destroy the entire system. That means shutting down every facility, jailing every top official, tracking down anyone who had anything to do with this and making them pay. Even dime Luthor and his conspirators made will be stripped from them and they will be prosecuted at the global level. We have to set an example for everyone else that we protect our own."

Lois looked between the two men and said, "You realize how difficult that will be, right?"

"It will take a total surprise. We'll have to keep the group small, involve Earth officials at a minimal level until the very last second." Superman murmured, "It's going to take communication, skill…."

"It's going to look like the League is usurping power." Lois worried.

"It might." Bruce agreed.

"Over Hawkgirl," Lois said quietly, "Not that I disagree with your decision, but from a communications perspective, the optics aren't going to look good. You are literally risking everything over her. The world could react badly, let alone the rest of the League who doesn't even know what's happening yet. What have you told them about why she's staying there anyway?"

Bruce looked out the window as he whispered, "She's just staying with John until they can get settled on Earth."

"That won't last long." Lois ran her hand through her hair.

Bruce nodded, "We have to get this all done before the new year to avoid questions."

"It's going to be a huge feat." Clark said while he stared off into space, "If we manage not to alienate the League and all of the people they represent...it'll be a miracle."

Bruce shrugged and said confidently, "The moment we worry more about self preservation than justice is when we quite being heroes and start being politicians. We need to do what's right. This isn't just about Shayera; this is about a company who has systematically incorporated torture into their work for profit. We owe it to every single person they have hurt to make sure that they serve their time."

Clark nodded, "We have to tell the other Founders. They should be part of the planning."

Bruce agreed, "Just let me talk to Diana alone first."

Lois looked between the two men. Both so sure, so strong. Ready to take on the wrath of the world and their allies in the League to help a friend. Even if other were being hurt, she knew that this case against the Lotus Foundation was personal. She smiled, even as she spoke, "Well, I guess if we're going down, we'll go down together."

Bruce gave her the first genuine grin he had ever offered her and with a nod said, "Nothing like a suicide mission to keep you on your toes."


	37. Chapter 37

"Honestly?" Shayera asked.

"Honestly." John confirmed

"I don't like it." Shayera said simply with a shrug of her shoulders.

"And this has nothing to do with Wally?" John asked with a raised eyebrow.

"I respect his opinion." Shayera defended.

"And what exactly did he say?" John asked.

This was the tricky part. Shayera had promised Wally that she wouldn't tell John anything they discussed, mostly because the speedster was scared that the Lantern would ring his neck for his brutal comment. Wally was never one to filter his thoughts. However, if she didn't tell John, he would be mad that she wasn't sharing her feelings. Never mind that she hated sharing her feelings, but apparently this was something he felt very strongly about. After he continued to stare at her, waiting for her to tell him, she relented, "His exact words were, 'No matter what John tries to tell you if you name your kid Felix Stewart, he _will_ get beaten up and school and have no friends. Don't do it.' And really, John, it sounds like something someone would name their cat. We can't have our child walking around with a feline name. Plus, what middle name could possibly go with Felix."

"Thomas." John said confidently.

"That just makes it worse."

"What's wrong with Thomas?"

"It sounds like an old guy name."

"You're sure this has nothing to do with the fact you already hate the name Felix?"

"It's a cat name!" Shayera yelled.

"You wouldn't have thought that if Wally hadn't said something!" John exclaimed.

"Don't tell me what I would have thought." Shayera growled.

"Fine." John said in a way that most certainly indicated he was not fine. With a roll of his eyes, he crossed the name from his list with a black marker and continued reading off names he liked. They had been doing this every day for nearly a week. As it turned out, picking a name was rather difficult. They had dramatically different tastes in what was and was not appropriate to call a child. John seemed to like flowery, soft names which made Shayera want to punch him in the face more than her hormones already demanded. Shayera, on the other hand, tended to like bold names which John thought were too out there or nontraditional, whatever that meant. Really, she just thought he wanted to be the one to name their child.

"Donovan." John said seriously.

"Ew. No." Shayera immediately cut him off while shaking her head.

"What's your reason for this one." John sighed.

"I just don't like the way it sounds. Isn't that reason enough?" Shayera had officially entered her moody phase of pregnancy. If the cravings weren't enough to do her in, then the emotional roller coaster she constantly rode would. The last week had seen her cry four times. She could have forgiven herself if the tears were a result of a tragic loss or particularly cruel argument, but they were over the stupidest things she could imagine. On Sunday, she cried because she craved cake but was totally incapable of making it. She had tried, but the kitchen had looked more like someone was massacred than someone was trying to cook. John said it was normal and wiped away her sorrow before baking for her, but it only got worse from there. By Thursday, she had cried over everything from dog food commercials to stains that just wouldn't come out of John's clothes. What was worse was that every time John looked at her with pity, she just got angry.

The anger, however, was coming in handy. While most of the League had come to begrudgingly accept her presence, there were still a few that continued to protest. The Shining Knight had not backed down in the least and Vigilante was also vocal about his disapproval. Wally and John had been initially hesitant about taking her around the Watchtower too much, but after the last time, when she had called the Knight some rather unladylike words and sent him off with his tail between his legs, they were starting to relax. Still, she was ready for this pregnancy to be over. Prepared, not so much, but ready, yes.

"Jeremiah." John offered next.

"You've already asked me about that once. I'm not caving on that name. Wally would shorten it to Jerry, and you know it. I will not have my child called Jerry." She got up then and headed to the fridge to pull out some grapes.

John, though, followed her and continued, "Do you like Theodore, Xavier, Fletcher, or Zachery?"

Popping one grape in her mouth, Shayera responded, "Nope."

John threw down the list on the counter and said harshly, "Fine. Then you have to offer an alternative. You can't shoot down all my name ideas and then offer none of your own."

"I'm waiting until I have a really good one to offer." Shayera said simply.

"Really?" John asked skeptically.

Looking at him seriously, Shayera mocked, "Well, you're hardly going to like my Thanagarian names, so why should I let you shoot them down? Instead, I'm going through the name book that Wally gave me, page by page, and when I find a few that I genuinely think that you will like, I will inform you."

"Give me a sample." John said with crossed arms, clearly doubting her abilities.

"Fine." Shayera sighed and picked up the book from where she had sat the book on the counter earlier. John hadn't paid much attention to it, but now that he looked more closely at it, he noticed that there were several colored tabs sticking out. Picking one seemingly at random, Shayera opened the book and smiled. Finally, she spoke while rubbing her belly with her other hand, "For a boy, I like the name Malakai. We could shorten it to Kai, which I like. What do you think?"

Honestly impressed, John said, "Yeah, I like that."

"Good." Shayera closed the book and put it back on the counter, "I'll tell you more later."

"We still haven't discussed any names for girls." John thought he would mention it.

"No, you haven't discussed any names for girls." Shayera countered, "I am compiling my list. If you happen to have any you think we can compromise on, then please. Be my guest."

He sighed, deciding not to argue on the topic any more that night. If he brought up names like Poppy, Catherine, or Elizabeth, she was sure to dismiss them immediately. Instead, he decided to try to convince her of something he hoped she would cave on. Clearing his throat, he began, "Fine. If you're going to be difficult about names, I'll give you a break. That is, if you agree to go to childbirth classes."

"Really, John? You think we need to go to classes on childbirth? That's ridiculous." She tried to brush off his worries, "No Thanagarian has ever gone to a class on childbirth and I can name by lineage back seven generations. I will not go to some Earthen class with all these other pregnant, judgey women just to have someone tell me about the wonders of giving birth. It's horrible, painful, bloody, and I've accepted that. But I will not have you learning how to boss me around when I am in the process of pushing something very large out of a very small hole in my body. Okay?"

"Shayera, they really aren't that bad." John tried to comfort her.

"Have you ever been to one before?" She glared at him.

"No, but neither have you." He countered.

"Well, it will make me much happier if I don't ever have to hear about them again." She said with a smile.

"Then I want you to reconsider giving birth on the Watchtower." John insisted.

"Not your decision." Shayera began to eat her grapes again.

"Do you want a definition of the word compromise?" He snapped.

"Do you want definitions for overprotective or overbearing?" She replied sweetly, "Look, we both know that a half human child is going to have issues with citizenship. Especially if that child comes out with wings and in the words of Wally, 'looking all Thanagarian.' If I give birth on Earth, there is much more leverage for a government to recognize our child as a citizen."

"What if I can convince the US to promise citizenship even if you give birth here?" John said after a moment's thought.

Shayera sighed, "Then I promise to reconsider."

"Okay." He surprisingly conceded.

"But that doesn't mean I will decide in your favor." She warned.

"I said okay, Shayera." He said in a frustrated tone.

"As long as we're clear." She confirmed.

"One more thing." John tried to sound casual. If Shayera suspected a thing, he might just get killed.

"What, John?" She sighed.

"Tomorrow the Founders are having a dinner for old times sake. You know, just the seven of us? It's going to be great. It'll be in the cafeteria around two o'clock. I know you usually hate these things, but could you go just this once?" These meals used to be a regular occurrence for the seven of them. Wally had come up with the idea and Clark being the family man he always has been enforced them. However, since the invasion, none of them could stomach the idea of having one without Shayera, and since things had been so hectic since she came back, they hadn't had the time. It was the perfect cover for what he had planned.

"Fine." She said shortly.

"Really?" He was surprised she was so willing.

"Is there a reason I wouldn't?" She sounded suspicious.

"You never liked them before." He shrugged.

"If it means no showdowns in the dining hall, I'm sold." She picked up the book of baby names once more. John let out the breath he had been holding. Perhaps things were going to go his way after all. Now all he had to do was get her through one baby shower without sending anyone to the infirmary and life would be looking up.


	38. Chapter 38

The hardest thing about being pregnant was all the things you couldn't do. Drinking, for example. Shayera would kill to be able to go to a bar with John for something with whiskey in it, or at least partake in the evening beer while relaxing on the couch. Caffeine was also something she missed. Before she had gotten pregnant, she had never craved it that much. Sure, she would have coffee with the rest of the team, but she was never one for fizzy energy drinks. Now that she was constantly tired from the moment she got up til the second she fell asleep in the evening, on top of feeling fat and clumsy, she wanted the artificial energy that five bottles of soda could provide. Fighting was at the top of things she missed, though. There were a few choice people around the Watchtower she wouldn't mind clocking. It was difficult to be around so many people who indulged so openly in all three things with such consistency.

There was also the issue of overprotective friends who were starting to border on annoying. Clark stopped by often to make sure she was taking things easy and usually ended up doing chores which she definitely could have done herself. Wally was constantly around, which she enjoyed until he started asking questions like when the nursery would be done and how long until they settled on a name. J'onn, of course, was available often for her medical testing, which was at least once a week because John was so worried. Even Bruce had made an effort to stop by and check on her from time to time, warning her about overexerting herself.

The nice thing about being pregnant, though, was that no one suspected you of anything. It was crazy really. She had been a detective, a hero, a spy - more cut throat things than most people could dream of when they saw her falsely innocent face - yet her friends seemed to think that she could simply forget that people were hunting her. And, as it turned out, her baby. John ignored the oddity that she hadn't insisted on knowing the facts of the investigation, as had the others. The last two weeks, she had basically been able to come and go from the tower and she pleased. It made her work much easier. Still, she was surprised they had bought her compliance so quickly, she thought as she asked to be teleported up to the Watchtower once more.

"Okay, Shay. Why don't you give me your coordinates?" Wally said with a smile.

"As if you don't already know." She teased from her stance on a hillside outside Denver.

"Beaming you up in three, two, one…" With a blinding flash of light, Shayera found herself back in the central antechamber of the Watchtower. Heroes were flying through the space from level to level, most speaking in small groups but some wandering individually. She let a small smile touch her lips as she was reminded of the early days of the League, when she was constantly surrounded by teammates who wanted to discuss new strategies or training techniques. Speaking of teammates, Shayera glanced at her watch, she realized that she was late for the Founder's dinner.

It was almost 2:15 in the afternoon, and John hated it when she didn't let him know she was going to be running behind schedule. She let out a heavy sigh and began the trek to the cafeteria. Hopefully this lunch wouldn't take too long. The idea of conversing with her teammates was wonderful, but she had important business to get back to.

"Hey, Wings! Wait up!" She heard Wally call from behind her.

She turned to see him running at full speed down the stairs towards the teleport cradle. There was no way she could walk faster than him if he was walking the speed of a normal person even if she wanted to, so she slowed down in defeat. At least it was Wally and not someone else. She was surprisingly moody today.

"Are you on your way to the dinner?" She asked nonchalantly.

"Dinner?" Wally frowned.

"You know, with the Founders? John said two, right?" She sighed. Maybe she had missed it.

Wally continued to look confused. She waited patiently, wondering if he even recalled being told about it since he did forget these things more often than not. After a moment, his face went wide with understanding and he smiled, " _Right._ The dinner. Almost forgot about that. It's definitely at two."

"That doesn't sound suspicious." Shayera said sarcastically.

"What do you mean?" His voice went up half a step.

"That's your I-got-caught-in-a-lie voice." Her voice darkened with an unspoken threat.

"I have no such voice." He tried to make himself sound normal.

"Sure. Just like you didn't make two hundred plastic copies of John's ring for April Fool's Day. He couldn't find his real one for nearly two hours, which I still don't know how you managed that. I would have thought he could sense his ring somehow. Anyway, the point is, I know how you operate. Tell me what you're lying about now." She had stopped at this point. A single finger was pointed at him the same way a robber would point a gun. Her eyes blazed with an internal fire that Wally knew he didn't have a chance against.

He sighed, "Look, it's not a big deal."

"What is John planning?" She roared.

"It's nothing major, just-"

"Is it that dumb baby shower thing?" It just took one look at Wally's guilty expression to realize that she was right, "I told John specifically that this is one human tradition that I refuse to be a part of. The talking to my stomach like a pet thing, fine, I can deal with that. The desire for some fancy, frilly name? I'm willing to compromise. I even put up with his silly attempts to manage my diet and every other part of my life right now. However, I absolutely refuse to take part in a public celebration of my fertility where everyone coos over my midsection and pledges their affection for my unborn child through gifts and silly party games!"

"Shayera," He tried to calm her down, "It's not going to be that bad."

"Oh, really!" She yelled. Then she changed to a more serious tone, "How long have you known about this?"

"The specifics aren't important." He shrugged.

"How long?" She demanded.

"A week or two, maybe." He said casually, "But hey, I tried my best to help! He wanted you to wear a dress and I got him to back down to jeans and a cute sweater!" He gestured at the clothes John had talked her into wearing that morning. Now she knew why he had been so picky.

"Dammit." She huffed, "I told John I didn't want to do this."

"Oh, come on, Shay. It'll make him so happy. He's put so much work into it already."

That comment only brought a greater look of panic to her face. "I'm not going." With that, she threw her hands in the air and started walking the opposite way from the cafeteria. Wally hated to mess with her when she got into this mood. He knew there was no way to change her mind once she had decided on a course of action. Standing in the middle of the bay, looking like an absolute moron, Wally shouted after Shayera.

"Seriously!" Wally cried, "We'll only be there two hours tops!"

"Nope!" She called over her shoulder.

"God dammit." He whispered to himself. Finally, he shouted, "Fine!"

Not even a full second later, Shayera felt the warmth of a tall person right behind her, and before she could even gasp in surprise, strong arms had lifted her off the ground. The world blurred as she was immediately whisked through the tower at an unnatural speed. Struggling with great difficulty, Shayera tried to extract herself from the rather uncomfortable grip that was managing to squish both her stomach and her boobs. With no success, she moaned in frustration, "Wally!"

Suddenly, she was jerked to a stop and placed on rather shaky legs. No matter how many times the Flash moved her, she never got used to returning back to normal speed. She hated the churning, hazy feeling it gave her brain and how out of control she felt. Gripping Wally's shoulders tightly, she closed her eyes and took several deep breathes. Her friend, though he rubbed her back, felt little sympathy for her and instead ordered, "Shay, you have to go in there and at least pretend to tolerate this."

"No." She whispered, trying to compose herself, "This is a stupid rite of passage."

"Well, yeah." Wally agreed quickly, "But John is kind of a girl about these things. And when you have a female on your back about doing something stupid, sometimes you just have to suck it up and give them what they want. Plus, I promised him I would make sure you would be here. So, now I am free of the weight of Mr. Judgmental Lantern in there."

"You seem to care little about what _I_ want." She blew out a strained breathe, "Like keeping my lunch in my body."

"Come on. Just try." He pushed.

"Fine." She looked up at him with a glare, "But I will remember this."

"That's what I'm afraid of." Wally said to himself.

So, they walked into the cafeteria together, something that Wally regretted instantly. Overboard might not have been a strong enough word. John had gone so far as to hang banners, coordinate colored tablecloths and plates, and apparently the gift registry Linda had set up had some in handy since there was a pile of presents higher than the extraordinarily tall cake. Wally heard her suck in a breathe of horror at the sheer number of people seated throughout the room (John must have invited half the League). If there was one thing Shayera hated more than parties right now, it was people. She might just murder John. Speaking of John, the hero flew over to them in a green glow as soon as they entered the room. He looked relieved to say the least.

"You guys are late." He worried, "I didn't think you were coming."

"I didn't want to." Shayera grumbled.

"What she means is 'That cake looks delicious.'" Wally said with a smile.

"It really is. Let me get you a piece." John flew away just as quickly as he arrived.

Looking at his partner in crime, Wally could see that Shayera's back was rigid and her face frozen in a dazed look. Wally reached out to shake her elbow gently and asked, "Wings?"

In a high pitched voice, Shayera whispered, "I'm going to kill you."

"I'm so sorry, Shay. He didn't tell me it was going to be this bad."

"Your death is going to be excruciating yet creative." She said just low enough that no one else could catch.

"Do you want to run?" He sighed. That might be the only thing to make this better.

With her teeth clenched together, she finally hissed, "Two hours. That's it. Then we go home and you rub my feet while my asshole boyfriend cleans up this shit show."

"Thank you, Wings." He said weakly.

"Don't thank me. I still want you dead." She said back with a tight smile.


	39. Chapter 39

Drip. Drip. Drip.

Shayera let the neon pink fabric paint that John had excitedly handed to her ooze slowly into a quickly flattening pile on the white onesie which sat on the table beneath her. She hadn't even bothered to make a pattern or design. To be honest, she doubted she would ever let the disgusting item near her child so there was no point in putting in the effort. This strange human substance reminded her of a poison on her planet found in the marshlands. Even if it was safe, she doubted the paint would ever completely dry and probably would either end up in the mouth of her baby or clogging her washer. No way.

"Shay?" John's voice interrupted her daydream.

She looked up to see him carefully tracing a red dinosaur onto a blue outfit. Somehow he had managed to make the vicious creature look nurturing. He really did take the fun out of things sometimes. However, rather than finishing his work, he was staring in horror at the mess she had in front of her and asked, 'What do you have there?"

Looking down at what had essentially become a glob of pink paint (not that it had started out much different), she didn't know how to respond. An interpretive version of what villains look like when I'm done with them? My brain after one hundred and eighteen minutes of this pointlessness? Your face when I'm done pounding it tonight? Perhaps a combination of the three. That would be some artistic inspiration. For some reason, though, she doubted his feelings would survive her sarcasm today. Instead, she shoved her feelings further down into the chasm that once housed her dignity and said tightly, "It's supposed to be abstract."

He tilted his head to the side and said, "Oh, okay. I see it."

She sighed finally and asked tersely as she put the bottle of liquid down, "Is it time for the cake yet?"

"You still haven't even opened the presents, Shay." He said seriously.

She huffed, "Gifts don't help my hunger, John."

He nodded in defeat and said, "I guess we can eat it while we open the presents. Give me a few minutes. I have to make sure that Linda can write down the names and items for thank you cards. They are going to be hard enough to write as is. Will you be okay by yourself for a few minutes?"

Shayera rolled her eyes, "I'm not an invalid."

"No, just debilitatingly stubborn." He said with a weak smile. Glancing around the room, he continued, "I'm sure someone would love to help you try to salvage your onesie anyway. Hey, Diana! Could you come here for a second!"

John waved across the room at the lovely Amazonian sitting at one of the long tables. Dinah, Kara, and Zatanna all sat around her, each with one of the hot cocoa mugs that were colored either blue or pink, depending on their gender guess for the baby. All the women appeared to be happily conversing, even given the rather unusual circumstances. Not long ago, she had left the League and now they were celebrating her upcoming motherhood. At John's call, the tall princess turned, sending a cold stare the Lantern's way once she noticed Shayera and asked loudly, "Something wrong, GL?"

"I have a few things to take care of. Could you keep Shay company?" He smiled.

"Sure." She said shortly.

With that, she placed her blue mug roughly on the table and strode to her former teammate. It didn't take a genius to see that things had not improved between the two women. Diana had been spending most of her time on Earth, whether working or relaxing, and generally only came up to the tower for official meetings or to stay with Bruce. News that they were dating had spread through the League like wildfire, almost as quickly as the information that Diana was avoiding Shayera like the plague. Luckily, Diana had been busy enough that no one had bothered to try to force the two to confront their issues. Looked like John was trying to change that.

By the time that Shayera would have had a chance to protest, the Lantern was long gone. Shayera huffed, but tried not to be too annoyed. She had hardly been a happy participant in this event. It was fitting that John threw a little bit of attitude her way. Rather than dwell on her boyfriend's actions, Shayera picked up some yellow paint and considered ways to make the design in front of her look acceptable. Apparently John wanted both her attendance and participation.

"What is _that?_ " Diana didn't even bother to hide her displeasure with Shayera's creation.

"The pride of my people." Shayera said dryly.

Diana chuckled, "I'm sure the Amazons would feel similarly about the concept of a 'baby shower.' Something about it feels demeaning."

Shayera shrugged, "I think the Thanagarians would actually enjoy it. After all, we are constantly looking for new ways to torture our enemies. Imagine a Gordanian being forcefully blindfolded and made to pin the bottle on the two dimensional baby over and over until they get it right. There would be no need for war; they would surrender within an hour. "

"They really would would lose their will to fight." Diana just barely smiled.

Shayera looked over to see what Diana was making on her piece of cloth. While the winged woman had been smearing the two colors all over the outfit in lines and shapes that didn't have any connection, Diana had been carefully tracing a design. Now that she got a better look, Shayera could see that it was indeed a mace like the one she carried into battle. She felt happy for the first time since she had gotten to the cafeteria and admitted, "That is the only one I might actually allow to survive."

Diana put down her paint, "The way to your heart was always weapons."

"Once in a while, I think you might understand me better than John." Shayera joked.

"Warriors always share a kind of a mind." Diana said solemnly. Her face once again drew to a contemplating, worrisome look. Her blue eyes glanced over the abuzz room, taking note of the various activities, from crafts to the crowd around the name suggestion box. No one seemed to be paying them a large amount of attention. Her voice dropped so that not even Superman could detect it over the crowd's collective noise, "Did you find what you were looking for in Denver?"

"If you mean who," Shayera corrected lightly, "Then yes."

Diana nodded without looking up from her work, "There have been some more developments on our side." Shayera watched the Amazonian slip her hand across the table and lace her fingers through her own. The princess had never been openly affectionate with her, and this was no exception. The warmth of her fingers disappeared after a quick squeeze, but the crinkly feeling of a piece of folded up paper remained. The Thanagarian tried to keep the widening of her eyes unnoticeable to the outside world and leisurely slipped the item in her pocket. Meanwhile, the dark haired beauty continued, "It might be a while before I can get away. Breakfast tomorrow morning, maybe, would be nice."

Shayera nodded and said earnestly, "Thanks again for this."

Diana shrugged, "We aren't damsels. They shouldn't treat us like it."

Shayera almost laughed, "I love them all, but sometimes they really aren't good for the cause of Feminism."

Diana rolled her eyes and muttered, "You're telling me."

At that moment, the woman finished the onesie she had been working on and delicately picked it up by the edges, careful not to harm her artwork. She leaned in once more, before she would walk away, to warn Shayera, "Don't think this means we're friends. And I think you're needed at the front."

Looking the way Diana's gaze was fixed, Shayera saw John waving her down excitedly. He seemed to have found Linda and prepared her for her note taking job. Shayera sighed in disappointment. There was no way she was going to make it out of the shower in two hours at this point. She would be lucky if she wasn't there all night.

Diana must have noticed the horror on the other woman's face because she laughed once more and said, "If world leaders only knew how you felt right now, they would feel no need to jail you."

"Jail might be more enjoyable." Shayera mumbled. Turning to share one more look with Wonder Woman, she muttered, "Guess I'll see you tomorrow then."

"Don't be late." Diana said darkly as the two parted ways.


	40. Chapter 40

Nearly four hours later, Shayera was finally tucked into her own bed. John had made her stay for the rest of the party, which included a meal, opening dozens of gifts (only a few of which were weapons. An unfortunate development) and a social hour. _Wasn't the whole party already a social event?_ She thought to herself.

However, once everyone left, she informed John that since he was the one that wanted the stupid shower, he could clean it up. She was done feeling like a museum exhibit to be gawked at and commented on. After that, she had stomped back to her apartment where she had firmly shut the door, turned on a warm shower, and let the water wash away the afternoon stress. The knots in her back had loosened slightly, although she knew they would remain there for the foreseeable future due to her little bundle of joy. Usually, she tried to make her bathes short and efficient, but today she took nearly an hour before she dared to put on the fluffy robe John had bought for her. _One of the few useful things he has done lately,_ she thought resentfully. _Inconsiderate dickhead._

At that moment, the door to their bedroom inched open just a crack. A sliver of light crept up the wall beside her, letting her know that John had finally come back. Her only response was to cuddle her blankets tighter around her cold body.

"Shayera?" John's apprehensive voice called out.

"What?" She mumbled around the material.

"It's only 8:15." He asked in confusion.

She huffed loudly, "Your spawn has me exhausted. If you have a problem with it, that's what the living room is for."

He sighed, "So you're still grumpy?"

That did it. That was the final straw. Shayera had gone from content (ish) expectant mother to angry warrior in the matter of a millisecond. Struggling to rise up onto her elbows, because there was honestly no way she was going to be able to get all the way upright without the help of either John or someone else and she wasn't about to ask for help from _him_ , she sent a glare his way that she knew he could see in the dimly lit room. Her voice seethed in rage as she ripped into him, "Yes, John. I am still grumpy. Believe it or not, I don't like being drug out in front of our friends for silly events that you know I don't approve of or want to take part in. Today was embarrassing and humiliating. Not to mention that you had every one of our friends and acquaintances convinced that you were being the reasonable one while I was reduced to a mere hormonal mate. So grumpy is about ten levels of happiness better than what you deserve!"

She didn't even bother to let him respond. Instead, she rolled onto her side, facing away from him, and pulled the quilts up to her neck. Tears prickled her eyelids, but she refused to let them fall. She would rather cry over insignificant matters that John's dumb baby shower.

A few moments later, she felt the bed move as it responded to his weight. He didn't say anything, but slowly moved close to her, so that he was laying beside her even with her back to him. Then, John reached around to place a hand at the bottom of her belly. It was then that Shayera had enough and tried to shake off his comforting gesture, but her Lantern refused to be pushed away so easily. Rather, he pulled her closer so that he could tuck his chin on her bony shoulder. Whispering as to not upset her anymore than he already had, John asked, "Shay, what's got you in such a mood?"

She rolled her eyes at his ignorance, "I told you. Today was stupid."

He nodded, which placed an uncomfortable weight on her collarbone, "Yeah, but you usually at least try to tolerate human functions."

"They usually aren't centered around me." She said tightly, "And they usually aren't that big. Even when Wally made me have that birthday party last year, it was just the seven of us for dinner. He made it seem like every other day, just a bit more special. This was one human tradition I _did not_ enjoy, John. Not because I didn't want to go, but because it was genuinely not something any Thanagarian would be okay with. I don't want to do that _ever again_." Her voice quivered with suppressed emotion.

"Okay, okay." He said reassuringly. Rubbing soothing circles on her belly, John felt guilty for the first time. Shayera was rarely emotional about anything, excluding the occasional pregnancy episode as of late. Even then, she generally refused his comfort, instead attempting to tough it out because she hated showing such weakness. Tonight, though, she seemed to be actually hurt. Curious as to her reaction, he asked, "Why wouldn't Thanagarians like baby showers?"

"They're stupid." She mumbled again, "And we don't like that kind of attention."

"What kind of attention?" John asked quietly.

She sighed in frustration, "The kind where we're treated like some weakling that needs all this help and coddling. When a woman has a child on Thanagar, it's considered more of a vacation to hone her skills than a period of pampering. One will often return to academies to teach, aid in strategy formulation and implementation, or take additional courses on military tactics to help them qualify for better positions. It's a time to push your education. This dumb shower is just another reminder of how useless you all think I've become. And everyone was there to make sure I knew how they felt."

"You're not useless, Shay, and nobody thinks that." He said sweetly.

She snapped, "What is one thing I've been able to do since I've come back?"

"Monitor duty?" He offered kindly.

"You let the new recruits do that. Doesn't count." She hissed.

"On Earth, we try not to let pregnant women overexert themselves. This is a delicate time." He tried to convince her.

"Oh!" She said in a way he knew he had just started a bigger fight, "Everything is always about what happens on Earth. It doesn't matter that I have my own set of customs and important rites? Since I'm stuck on this planet, I should just forget everything I've known and looked forward to in my life and accept what you like? Thanks, John. I'll remember that in the future." With that, she slid out of his arms and closer to the edge of the bed, where she was able to swing her legs over the edge and sit push herself upright with her arms.

"Hey," He frowned from where he laid, "That's not what I meant at all."

"Sure, John. Whatever." She said stubbornly.

He was silent for a few minutes, considering his words carefully. Finally, he asked, "If you were on Thanagar, what would you have done to get ready for the baby?"

She shook her head, "You'll think it's ridiculous."

He crawled across the bed so that he was sitting behind her. He let his legs fall on either side of her, so that her small frame was tucked once again against his strong chest. Even though he knew she still wasn't pleased with him, she relented and stiffly leaned back. She didn't bother to acknowledge him as she spoke. Looking blankly ahead, she spoke in a detached voice, "I would have told my commander first. He would have quietly transferred me to an advising part of the base where I would have worked with more advanced military leaders. You would have continued your work as a soldier, but had more free time to help me prepare a small home. It would have been a simple affair."

"Surely you have some type of celebrations?" John asked innocently.

"In a way," She admitted sentimentally, "A few weeks before a woman gives birth, some of her closest female confidents host a small even gathering. There's usually a campfire where a large beast of some sort is caught and cooked. Then they give advice on birth, child rearing, and some of the coming changes. It's supposed to be more of a friendly gathering than a party."

"I see." John said dismally, "So today just made you unhappy?"

"I'm sorry, John." She said sadly, "I know you tried hard."

"No, I should have listened." He admitted.

She swallowed, and then whispered, "Thangar is gone for me. I know I can never go back, that's a reality I accepted when I choose to help Earth and stay here. And I don't regret that decision. But I am sad that my child will never know my people and culture. He or she probably won't even speak my language. I'm okay with being on Earth and continuing this way of life, but there are certain traditions that I don't like. And just because I gave up Thanagarian traditions doesn't mean I'm ready to embrace every single new one."

"Woah, woah, Shay. Hold on. Who said anything about giving up Thanagarian customs?" He shook his head in confusion.

She sighed sadly, "Our child is Earthen. It doesn't need to be weighted down by my past."

John hugged his girlfriend more tightly, "You aren't burdening him, Shay. You're teaching him where you come from and how you grew up. That's important. If you want to teach him or her Thanagarian, then so be it. We can celebrate those holidays and talk about your planet. Just because we live on Earth doesn't mean your customs aren't still important."

"It feels that way sometimes." She admitted.

John felt horrible, "I never meant to make you feel that way, babe. But if you don't tell me why you don't want to do things, if you just say no, then I'm going to assume it's just because you're the most stubborn person I've ever met. We can do this if you just tell me how you're feeling."

"I'm feeling like a mess." She cried.

He kissed her neck and whispered, "You're amazing."

She was quiet again, and John sensed there was still something she wanted to say. Taking a deep breath and swallowing back her fears, Shayera admitted, "I wish my family was here. I didn't have much but my child would have had relatives who cared. It's hard to know that they're probably dead right now."

"I'm sorry." John whispered painfully.

"It's not your fault." She shrugged.

"Not your's either." John assured.

"I'm sorry I didn't appreciate your shower, John." Shayera apologized, "I know you must have put a lot of work into it, and I wish I had let you enjoy it more."

"Well, everything we need for the baby's room is now here, so I think I enjoyed it well enough." John joked.

Shayera smiled, "What did I do to deserve you?"

John kissed her ear, "I ask myself the same thing."

Shayera coughed, "God, John. Even I know that was cheesy."

He hugged her tighter for a moment, "You know I'm not keeping you up here because you're useless, right? I just don't want anything to happen to you. You and the little guy, you're everything to me. If something happened to you… I couldn't go on alone."

"I know, but I miss being in the field." She whined.

"I miss fighting alongside you." John admitted, "But I don't want you to hurry back right after you give birth because you feel like you have something to prove."

"Don't worry," She grinned slyly in the dark, "It'll be because I can't wait to bash someone's face in."

"So reassuring, Shay." John rolled his eyes even though she couldn't see.

"Alright," She yawned, "I need to get some sleep."

John rubbed her belly once more, "It's good to know at least one of us can get you to slow down."

"Don't count on it for long, Lantern."

"I know. I know."


	41. Chapter 41

"Hey, Wally. What's going wrong on Earth today?" Shayera asked casually as she walked into the monitor room. Wally, like usual, was lounging around on a chair, limbs thrown in every direction, face blank with boredom, staring at the screens as he was obligated to do. Like could only happen when Wally was assigned his shifts, nothing interesting was happening. He was a master of paying the least amount of attention required and replaying last week's episodes of Grey's Anatomy in his head. It was no wonder this was his least favorite job.

He perked up a bit when Shayera entered, but made no move to get up from his chair, "Hey, Wings. Came to keep me company?" The poor sap sounded optimistic.

"Not today, Legs." She said with a light laugh, "I'm actually off to someplace called Vermont. Diana and I going out to lunch, and she gave me the coordinates yesterday. Could you teleport me down?"

Wally looked disappointed, but took the paper she offered him easily. Examining it with disinterest, he replied monotonously, "Sure."

"I'm sure something will happen, Wally." She tried to comfort him.

"Yeah. I'll die of old age." He pouted.

Shayera laughed, but walked over to the teleportation platform. She stepped up, sliding on the bracelet that Fate had made her as she did so. Instantly, her wings disappeared and she looked just like any other human, making it easy to blend in as long as Wally didn't make her appear in the middle of a crowded area, which she was absolutely certain was not a possibility. She centered herself in the middle of the small area and called out, "Okay! I'm ready."

Shayera heard Wally call over the loudspeaker, "Teleportation commencing in three, two…"

In a burst of light, Shayera suddenly found herself standing on a dusty trail in the middle of an evergreen forest. The sounds of birds and branches bristling in the wind were the only noises in the vast woodland. She smiled, knowing that while Wally had probably glanced at the coordinates to make sure they were somewhat accurate, he would never double check where she was going. Her heart felt slightly guilty at pulling him and his trusting nature into her trick, but John would never blame Wally. This was her and Diana's fault.

The gravel crunched under her wriggling feet as she considered which way to walk. To her left, the path descended slowly into a lush, green valley. The violet mountains behind it created a beautiful cradle of trees, flowers, and even a small, picturesque pond. She smiled, knowing that was not where she was heading. Turning to her right, she began the climb up the road, which snaked around the side of the small mountain. The blue sky greeted her happily, but she could see the dark clouds rolling closer in the distance. If she hurried, though, she knew that she could still make it to her destination before the downpour. Taking in one more breathe of the fresh, clean air, she began her journey, excited by the prospects of the day.

Nearly an hour later, Diana waited in a cabin in the mountains of Southern Vermont. Well, to be honest, it was more of a summer home than a cabin. The first floor had a high ceiling and no interior walls, giving a spacious feel to the residence despite looking like nothing more than a cottage from the outside.. The furniture and walls were warm tans and yellows, surprising the Amazon as she knew the owner to be a rather brisk inhabitant. He always seemed like someone who would choose cold blues and greys instead.

She was sitting on the bay view window in the back of the kitchen. Looking back at her work, she continued cleaning the weapon Bruce had given her for her birthday, a sword he had forged in the ancient Greek style. It most definitely was not up to the standards her and her sisters had, but he had made some modifications to it which made it great for their afternoon sparring sessions. It also had the added benefit of making her seem far more intimidating in enclosed settings. Like today.

"Do you really think she's coming?" A short man in a suit asked as he waltzed down the stairs to the upstairs quarters. He was dressed in his best black suit and adjusted his dark green tie as he stepped onto the landing. Even after all this time, Diana was still impressed by the confidence Greg Koester displayed despite his defenselessness. He couldn't have been taller than five feet six inches and, if the grey hair which barely clung to his speckled head was any indication, no younger than sixty. Not to mention that he was a powerless human. Still, the distinguished gentleman held himself tall and proud, like nearly every hero she had ever encountered.

Diana smiled knowingly and responded, "She'll be here."

Glancing at his expensive watch, Mr. Koester stated, "She's late."

Diana chuckled, "It takes her longer than usual to travel right now."

The man sighed, but set his briefcase on the table. He walked slowly over to where Wonder Woman was sitting, looking out the window thoughtfully rather than looking into her deep blue eyes. She looked at him, not in a way as to make a threat but to induce caution. Meanwhile she continued meticulously cleaning her double edged sword. Bruce wanted to practice this afternoon, and she wanted her weapon to gleam in the sun.

Finally, the man said in a low voice, "I hope she's worth it."

"She is." Diana said assuredly, without looking up.

"My boss agrees with you."

"Your boss is a smart man."

At that moment, the front door swung open without a knock. Mr. Koester spun around in shock while Diana merely sighed and tucked the cloth she'd been shining her blade with into the bag at her feet. Shayera walked into the house without a worry, red hair ruffling gently as she slammed the door closed behind herself. Like Diana recommended, the winged heroine was dressed in conservative civilian clothes, but had removed her bracelet so that her grey wings could be seen clearly.

Shayera scanned the room, eyes stopping as the saw the pair sitting by the window, and asked shortly, "Where would you like to do this?"

Mr. Koester turned to look at Diana, and when she didn't offer any suggestions, he said slowly, "How about we talk at the kitchen table."

Shayera nodded and walked over to here the man had motioned. Diana finally stood up, towering over both of her companions and took the first seat at the circular wooden table. Mr. Koester stood, waiting for Shayera to sit first. After some hesitation, she took the chair opposite of Diana, forcing the short gentleman to occupy the tense space between the two teammates. Shayera placed one protective hand over her stomach and waited for the man to speak.

"You spoke to my colleague yesterday, but Walter thought it would be better if we met in person. Wonder Woman and I have worked together on a number of occasions, both in her role a hero and as Amazonian ambassador" Mr. Koester explained and extended his wrinkled hand, "Hello, Hawkgirl. My name is Greg, and I am the Attorney General of the United States and this is my vacation home."

Hawkgirl corrected quickly, "I prefer to go by Shayera."

"Yes, of course." The man nodded.

Shayera quickly asked, "Did you bring the document Walter and I discussed?"

"Yes, but first I need to go over the terms before you sign it. To make sure you understand what you are agreeing to do." The man in the suit pulled out a stack of papers and sat them before Shayera with one hand while passing her a pen with the other. She looked up at Diana in worry, but the Amazon was studying a corner of the room intently, paying no mind to the discussion. Greg continued, "It's a pretty straightforward agreement. The main point is that by signing this, you become both an employee of the United Nations and a citizen of the United States."

"Could you briefly tell me again what my duties will be?" Shayera asked while leafing through the papers nervously.

"Yes." Mr. Koester said quickly, "You would be required to attend weekly meetings with the UN Council for Galactic Threat Assessment. Essentially, you would submit military style briefings as to your knowledge on various alien species, what threats they could pose to Earth, and what you recommend be done to avoid any conflicts. For the most part, however, you will be informing the Council on what you know about the Thanagarian and Gordanian armies. The hope is that this would be preemptive work."

"Do you really think they'll all believe me?" Shayera worried.

"No." The Attorney General said honestly, "But the Security Council members have decided that if so many heroes are willing to vouch for you, they are willing to hear you out. It will be the choice of the Council's members whether or not to believe what you have to say. You will act purely as a consultant."

"Alright." Shayera sighed begrudgingly, "I'm not sure how much help I can be though."

"It's easier to be a snitch than a traitor." Diana said snidely.

"Thanks." Shayera bit out, "Your support is appreciated."

"Hey," Diana said with a dismissive flick of her hand, "I said I would help you. You never said anything about requiring a friendly attitude."

"I'll make sure to include that next time I ask." Shayera said rudely. Looking back at the government official, she said, "Please continue."

Mr. Koester looked between the two very powerful women in curiosity, but did not comment on the dynamic. His job wasn't to question their relationship, but to get this agreement signed. It was important to the President. He cleared his throat and then turned the first page of the document over to point to a bullet point list. As Shayera read, he spoke, "In exchange for your knowledge and recommendations, the United States has agreed to grant you citizenship. This will, of course, give your child the same status when it's born and allow you certain rights associated with it-protection under the Bill of Rights and other US laws, you can apply for a driver's license or a marriage certificate, and you will also be allowed to have a permanent residence within our borders. Immigration here would not be an issue. We do, however, ask that you don't make this public information. If people ask too many questions and find out about this, we will cross that bridge when we come to it. However, we would rather not cause a controversy. Midterm elections are coming up."

Shayera nodded as she read the papers, "And my citizenship couldn't be revoked?"

Mr. Koester shook his head, "As long as you abide by the terms of the agreement. Once you are a citizen, no one can take that away from you. As for your employment, that's a UN issue, not an American one. Your contract is for five years, but open to renewal."

She continued glancing through the papers, the pit in her stomach growing as she considered the seriousness of her actions. Just to be sure, she asked, "And for the Lotus Foundation case?"

Greg nodded, "If you're an Earthen citizen, we can charge them with your attempted murder."

"That's good." She said breathlessly.

Noticing her discomfort, Mr. Koester said plainly, "This is the best deal we can offer you."

"Oh, just sign the freaking document!" Diana said loudly and with a roll of her eyes, "We both know this is what you want."

Shayera shifted uncomfortably in her chair, struggling as to how to put her feelings into words. This was the best answer to the predicament in which she had been placed. Still, something felt wrong about what she was about to do. Running one hand through her hair, she said slowly, "It's just that...once I write my name on this paper...I will officially be a traitor. Not that I wasn't before. I was. But this makes it all seem so cold….Before, I knew I was a traitor but it was for a reason. First I wanted to save my world, then this world. Now I feel like I'm a traitor just to…."

Diana looked over the table at the red head with raised eyebrows, "To save yourself."

Shayera nodded while toying with the pen in her hand, "It doesn't feel right."

Diana threw her hands up in the air and cried, "Shayera, it really doesn't matter how you feel!"

Shayera looked up at her friend with surprise. Yes, Diana was hostile towards her, but usually she at least made an effort to contain herself in front of others. Today, though, she spoke plainly, "You get to have your feelings of conflict and worry, but you have to sign this paper anyway. This isn't about loyalty to Earth or disloyalty to Thanagar. You have to do this because your first priority now is to John and that baby. You're going to be a mother, and mothers always put the needs of others above their own. So as someone who cares about all three of you very much, I'm going to tell you that no matter how much bullshit you are going through, you get to suck it up and do what's best for your family. Protect them and yourself. Sign the damn papers."

Shayera nodded solemnly, "You're right."

Picking up the pen with a shaky hand, she scribbled an almost unreadable signature at the bottom of the last page of the packet. Before she could have second thoughts on the decision, she pushed the papers back towards the Attorney General and stood up. Not meeting his eyes, she asked, "You'll be in touch?"

"Absolutely." He said quickly.

"Thanks." Shayera said as she walked towards the doorway.

Diana grabbed her bag immediately and shouted after her, "I'll walk you out."

Saying a quick but polite goodbye to the extremely high ranking United States' official, the Amazonian princess hurried after her fellow warrior. Shayera, though heavily pregnant, had already made it a good distance from the house and was still stalking forward, but Diana was simply able to fly to her side. She landed already mid stride and put a comforting hand awkwardly on Shayera's arm, "Hey, will you slow down for a moment?"

"What for?" Shayera said briskly.

"So we can talk." Diana said angrily.

"You have some nerve telling me to get over my feelings when you seem to have so many fucking feelings of your own." Shayera growled, "If you're going to be mad at me, fine. But I'm not going to put up with you treating me like shit anymore."

"We don't let each other get away with bullshit." Diana said as an explanation.

"Fine." Shayera stopped and turned to her friend, "I'll admit it. That was the right call back there. Yes, I was correct to have signed that paper, and I know that. But you treating me like shit - not just subtly but in front of leaders and our friends - I'm done with that. You might be a princess, but your title couldn't mean less to me. So get over yourself and suck up your own damn emotions."

Diana sighed dramatically, "You think I'd go to all the trouble to help you if I really hated you?"

Shayera scoffed, "You're just doing this for John. You said as much."

Diana put a hand on her hip, "I'm doing this because while I am pissed at you, and I might be pissed at you for quite some time, I will eventually forgive you. I understand your decisions even if I disagree with them. Okay?"

"Fine." Shayera spit out, "How long until you forgive me?"

"A year." Diana blurted out.

"A month." Shayera countered.

"You can't negotiate forgiveness. It doesn't work that way."

"Says who? Humans?" Shayera raised an eyebrow, "I'm willing to offer concessions."

"We'll talk about it later." Diana sighed, "We have to get back to the Watchtower. We have plenty of things to do, plus you shouldn't be out in this cold of weather in your condition-"

Her time in the military had taught Shayera to often react before thinking. It had served her well a plethora of times over the years. Her instincts had protected her from punches, bullets, and the occasional laser gun. She had never regretted any of the calls her reflexes had made for her. But this time she did. She heard the knife whizzing through the air before she saw it. She spun, taking a step back as she did so, but in the millisecond it took her to make the movement, she realized it also opened up her comrade to the dagger.

Her left hand reached out belatedly to pull Diana along with her. The whole world seemed to move in slow motion for a time, something that was a rare occurrence for both women. Diana started to move back but she was a beat too late. As the knife moved past Shayera's head, just barely knicking the skin on her ear as it did so, her hand had only just clasped the Amazon's shoulder. Shayera stumbled backwards, pulling the princess along with her.

But as she took her second step, one to start running back towards the house they had just left, Shayera felt Diana's shoulder slump forward in pain. The heroine did not fall, but as Shayera's eyes widened in surprise, she could see the hilt of a weapon protruding from Wonder Woman's chest. She had been stabbed. And even as Shayera stood there in horror, she realized that no one knew they were out there.

They were going to have to face these monsters alone.


	42. Chapter 42

Diana was never one to let a little injury hold her down. Sure, most people would say that a knife in the chest qualified as more than a little injury, and considering most weapons couldn't even pierce her skin, she was impressed, but she wasn't going to let a stab wound kill her. Her people were far too stubborn for that kind of thing. The knife was embedded on her left side, above her heart near her shoulder, and she could feel that it had sliced deep through her muscle. However, it hadn't seemed to strike any major organs, which was always a positive sign. The pain, though, was more intense than she had expected.

Still, after her breathe was momentarily stolen from her, she was able to think clearly. The surprise attack meant she needed a moment to assess her capabilities in this condition and how many potential enemies she was facing. As for allies, there was no way Shayera would be able to fight. Glancing over at her as the Thanagarian tried to pull her back towards the house, she felt a protective desire wash over her. She needed to get Shayera to safety. Using as much energy as she could muster, she dove forward, letting her body take flight as she did and scooped the pregnant woman into her arms, careful as she could be not to jostle the knife in her torso. It was nearly impossible, but she could carry most of her friend's weight on her good side. The wind whipped past them as they soured back to the front door of the Koester home and plunged through the door.

Diana not so gently placed Shayera on her feet and swung around to lock the door behind them. Her hands were shaking, but she managed to get the deadbolts in place quickly, for whatever good they might be.

Shayera, meanwhile, had other concerns, "Diana, your shoulder!"

Turning around and glancing at the handle of the knife sticking out of her, she doubted it was of much concern. If she was still conscious, that was enough to assure her it wouldn't kill her. Her Amazonian body tended to heal wounds quickly. With an accepting sigh, she reached up with her good arm and yanked the bloody dagger from her chest before smacking it down on the side table beside the doorway where Greg usually tossed his keys. She sucked in a pained breath, but refused to let out a cry of pain. In a harsh voice, she shouted, "We don't have time for this! Greg, we have an emergency!"

Footsteps were already pounding down the wooden stairs. A moment later, the short man still dressed impeccably, carrying his briefcase, and walking at a quick but still not hurried pace appeared once again. Buttoning his jacket, he answered, "I heard the commotion from the top floor. We have to get down to the panic room."

"Will it even hold?" Diana wondered.

"We can't hide out forever." Shayera said as she grabbed the knife Diana had just pulled out of her own chest.

"Help is coming." Diana said as sweat started to drip down her face. She put one hand to her ear and spoke weakly into her comm link, "Batman. This is Diana. I need you to look at the first set of emergency coordinations I saved on the teleporter memory. Shayera and I are in trouble and we need help as soon as possible. Lots of it." A second later, she closed her eyes in relief and whispered, "They're on their way."

"Great. We need to get downstairs." Mr. Koester pushed.

"We need to get Diana some help." Shayera said instead, "Do you have a first aid kit?"

Mr. Koester looked hesitant, but the determination in Shayera's face made it clear that she would not leave until she had gotten what she wanted. Begrudgingly, the man stepped forward, gripping Wonder Woman's shoulders and placing pressure on her wound. Looking at Shayera over his shoulder, he shouted, "The cabinet to the left of the sink. Hurry!"

Shayera rushed over to where he had directed her, even as the living room window shattered behind her. Greg flinched and looped his arm around Diana's waist so that he could support most of her weight. He moved her towards the steps, just as a masked man dressed in all black swooped through the broken window. When Shayera didn't immediately recognize the man, she swung the knife once in her hand before letting it fly towards her attacker. Like she had practiced hundreds of times before, the blade buried itself in the man's stomach. He fell down incapacitated on the floor, giving the three of them time to escape.

Greg practically carried Diana, who was losing too much blood despite the pressure on her shoulder. Meanwhile, Shayera grabbed as much as she could from the shelves in front of her - wrappings, cotton padding, ointments - the works. Then, just as she started to step away, she saw a set of knives hanging from the wall. She blindly grabbed several of them just in case and then hurried down the stairs after the other two.

By the time she made it down the stairs, Diana's legs had started to give out. Greg was on one side of the heroine, practically holding her up while Diana gripped the railing on her other side. Her race was red now, sweat dripping down her cheeks and the white of her eyes started to turn yellow. Shayera slipped under Diana's arm, trying to lift her up on the opposite side of Greg. When she noticed how warm the princess was, Shayera cried, "Diana, you're burning up!"

"Poison…" Diana was barely able to whisper.

Nodding seriously, Shayera pressed the cotton padding to her shoulder. She moved Greg's hand so it was pressing over the material and shouted at Greg, "You have to get her downstairs."

The man scoffed, "I'm not about to let a pregnant woman go up there alone."

"They need me alive! I can't say the same about you!" Shayera yelled as she slipped out from under Diana and began running up the stairs, knives still clenched in her fist. She had dropped the medical supplies on the stairs, knowing that they would do no good for what was coursing through Diana's bloodstream. By the time she got back to the landing, there were several other tall figures in the house. All were dressed darkly like the other man, faces covered, but none of the masked figures brought any sense of relief like they did in the Watchtower. But if she could just keep them at bay for a few minutes….

"Cross me and you'll find out how accurate my aim is." She warned.

None of them hesitated.

* * *

Bruce had finally finished the plans for a raid of the Lotus Foundation. It was a brilliant strategy, one that had taken weeks of late nights in the Batcave running on nothing but coffee and adrenaline to craft and perfect. Like usual, the Dark Knight had been extremely secretive, choosing not to share his ideas until he had every detail organized, timed, and thought out in completion. He had finally called a meeting, having informed them only the day before of the time and location, where J'onn, Clark, Wally and John had come to learn their parts in his plan. Diana, of course, had been in the loop for every step so she had resisted coming. One of the perks of living with Batman.

None of them were worried when she hadn't shown up to the meeting.

John, actually, had been relieved when Bruce briefly mentioned the two female founders were spending time together that afternoon. He had been worried by Diana's standoffish behavior and was happy to know that they were finally putting the past behind them. Shayera felt enough guilt for the invasion without Diana adding to it.

Then, Bruce had gotten a call on his ear piece. Nothing unusual considering that in many ways, Batman practically ran the League. He did determine most of the scheduling, mission team rosters, and made sure that everything involving the Watchtower was up to date. So when Bruce quickly turned away to listen to his earpiece, the others had merely continued their informal chat about some upcoming sports event which J'onn didn't understand and Clark was far too passionate about. They were laughing like nothing was wrong, caught up in their good luck at being able to end this threat before chaos had broken out. It was ironic really.

"Shut up!" Bruce had yelled suddenly over the group. All of them turned to him in silence as he continued, "Diana? Diana! I'm coming, Diana!"

"What's going on?" John shouted in worry.

"We have to go." Bruce said rather than answer. He turned, his cape swinging up dramatically as he stormed out of the Founder's Room. John, Clark, and J'onn followed suit, with Flash whizzing past all of them to the teleporter platform. By the time the four of them got to the main body of the Watchtower, the youngest member of their group was already preparing the teleporter to take them to Earth. The machine was warmed up, aimed for somewhere in North America. He looked over his shoulders as the others approached and demanded, "What are the exact coordinates?"

"In the computer's memory." Bruce said shortly as he drew them up himself.

Flash nodded and joined the others on the platform, Batman following a second later. In the blink of an eye, they were gone and found themselves in the middle of a far too quiet forest. Before them stood a beautiful wooden home with its door hanging from its hinges and glass covering the dirt in front of it. What really worried the men, however, was the lifelessness of the scene. There wasn't a person in sight.

John flew forward first in a haze of green light. He landed on his feet, he could vaguely hear the crunch of glass beneath his boots, just inside the doorway. The whole place was trashed. The kitchen table was on it's side, and several of the chairs were smashed or at least missing legs. Much of the furniture had been ripped apart, there were dents in the wall, not to mention that the debris covered the floor in a fine grey dust. It looked like a hurricane and torn through the building. He looked around, his heart beating faster in fear and called out, "Shayera! Diana!"

"Down here!" A male voice called from somewhere downstairs. The Flash buzzed past John, rushing down the steps in a red blur, Batman fast on his heels.

By the time John and Bruce caught up with Wally, he was already in the bunker, holding Diana on the ground and shaking her gently. Her eyes were closed, dark eyelashes standing out against her pale, clammy skin. Blood oozed from the deep cut on her chest and had stained her uniform before creating a pool of deep crimson on the cement floor. Wally looked up at his teammates in horror as he heard their approaching footsteps. Greg Koester, who the others recognized from their work in the last several weeks, stood in the corner, not far from the pair on the floor, and explained, "She was stabbed. At first, she didn't seem that bad, but then she said she was poisoned. We barely made it down here before she passed out."

Batman crouched down next to Wally, cautiously transferring his princess into his strong arms. Wally laid her head against Bruce's shoulder and despite the movement, the unconscious warrior failed to even murmur at the change. Neither of them had ever seen her so out of it. The always frightening hero whispered reassuringly to his girlfriend, but the speedster could see Bruce's tight, clenched jaw and the terrified gleam in his eye that Wally doubted anyone had seen except Alfred.

Meanwhile, John scanned the room for any sign of Shayera. After a second, he yelled, "Where is Shayera?"

Greg's eyes widened, "She went back up there."

"You let her do what?" Wally turned to look at the much older man.

Greg started pacing in the small, confined space. He could take no more than five steps across the room, but he needed to move anyway, scratching his head anxiously as he walked. While trying to explain, he stuttered, "S-she said that they wouldn't k-kill her! I was trying to get Wonder Woman away from the danger, and I couldn't try to stop her without putting us all in more d-danger-"

"We have to get her to the Watchtower." J'onn said as he appeared in the doorway.

"What about Shayera?" John shouted.

"We'll stay." Wally promised his friend, "You, me, and Superman. Between the three of us we can cover lots of ground. Plus, more reinforcements are on the way. They can help."

Batman was already rushing up the steps carrying Diana. The others followed close behind him, Wally racing through the house to see if there was any sign of Shayera left behind, John flying outside to find Superman. The men scattered, Wally, after finishing his examination of the house, looked for anything on the ground that could give an indication as to where his friend could have been taken while the other two men searched from the sky. Soon, they were joined by Supergirl, Green Arrow, Aquaman, and a multitude of others. Yet, several hours later, darkness had fallen.

And Shayera was nowhere to be found.


	43. Chapter 43

"What's happening? Where are you taking me?" Shayera tried to scream. The sounds leaving her mouth, however, were little more than a whisper in her groggy, barely conscious state. Against her will, her body released a moan as the drugs they had given her were just starting to wear off. Still, the medicines were leaving her system far too slowly for her liking, leaving her sore and achy. Her arms felt like jelly and she had to concentrate to keep the room from spinning out of control. She struggled to work out the muddled thoughts of her brain and try to work out a plan for the horrifying predicament she had found herself in.

Worse than the drugs, though, was that she was strapped to a table. Several wires and tubes were attached to her arms and chest, connecting her to a number of machines. The cold metal of the gurney made her shiver almost as much as the frigid, clinical white and silver of the medical equipment that surrounded her. Doctors and nurses walked past her, some taking notes on their clipboards while others measured chemicals in needles, she presumed for her since she didn't see any other patients. All of them wore long white labcoats and pale blue medical masks to cover their faces, which only made her more scared. She shook her wrists once more just to confirm that they were restrained to the table in large leather bindings just like her ankles. Any other time, she would have had the strength to break free of them but in her weakened state, she was lucky to be able to move her arms at all.

Her breathing quickened in panic as she realized she where she must be. _With the people who wanted her baby._

A loud beeping above her head made her wince, but she still frantically twisted her head to see where the noise was coming from. Yet, no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't quite see. Her neck was pained from the hard surface she had been resting on for who knows how long.

Suddenly, she caught a motion from the corner of her eye. One of the men who had been transferring a white liquid into a syringe had hurried over to her, the tapping of his shoes echoing on the floor as he did so. He held the needle out towards her arm, like he was about to inject her with whatever strange concoction he had. Shayera couldn't help how her hands began to shake as she attempted fruitless to break free of the restraints once more.

"Stay back!" Her weak voice called out, "Don't touch me!"

"Hey, hey! It's okay." A soft voice said comfortingly.

Looking on the other side of her, Shayera saw a tall man in an all black suit, but with a surgical mask covering his face nonetheless, approaching her. He was motioning at the approaching doctor to wait with one hand while the other was laid flat, showing that he meant no harm. His walk forward was slow, cautious as if he was afraid of frightening her. Ironic, really, considering her surroundings. After a few steps, his voice spoke quietly once more, "It's okay. You just need to calm down. He's just worried about your heart rate. If you can relax, he won't have to use that needle."

Shayera looked at the man in the suit hesitantly, considering whether or not to believe him. Being knocked unconscious and dragged out of a house didn't exactly make you look kindly upon trusting strangers. His green eyes narrowed in understanding, so he continued, "If we wanted you dead, you would already be dead. That means we need you and your baby alive and healthy. For now, our goals align. So how about we just work on calming you down, and we'll figure this all out from there?"

Inhaling sharply, Shayera nodded. For now, she was safe enough.

After taking several deep breaths, she asked weakly, "Where am I?"

"My lab." The man said honestly. He reached up at that moment to pull off his mask and Shayera gasped in surprise. Suddenly, the closely shaved head and expensive suit made perfect sense as she recognized the face of Lex Luthor before her. Her heart rate spiked once more, she could hear the screeching machines behind her, but the older man reached out to rub her arm soothingly, "Shh." He whispered, "Remember what we just talked about? I need you to calm down."

"Why am I here?" She asked fearfully as goosebumps spread up her limbs.

"I think you know why, Hawkgirl." Luthor said as he looked her in the eyes, "You've been evading us for long enough, I would have hoped you had put together the pieces before today. But right now that doesn't matter. You see, we're at an impasse. My people can't do anything until your baby is delivered, which I hope can be free of complications. Perhaps that is optimistic considering we know very little about your physiology. I had hoped to have some information on your species by now. However, your team is certainly quite talented, and hacking your medical files has been more difficult than we intended. I'm always up for a challenge, but your firewalls seem...well, insurmountable."

"I'm so disappointed." The sarcasm in Shayera's voice was undermined by its breathiness.

Luthor chuckled darkly, "An attitude even when restrained? You definitely have the infamous superhero ego." His face grew serious once more, "However, that brings me to why you're conscious. We need that information, which leaves us with two options for how to proceed. Usually I would simply wait the few weeks it would take you to deliver, but your team is making my business endeavors quite difficult which means I no longer have the patience. Time is of the most importance, and we seem to have very little of it left."

A small smile appeared on the billionaire's face as he shrugged casually. She could see his confidence building as his chest puffed out and he raised himself even taller than he already was. It was strange how this simple mannerism made Shayera's heart fall even further. His voice grew cold as he continued, "But we should have enough left to finish one last experiment and perhaps avoid incarceration. My last resort is to deliver your child right now and hope that it survives. Even if it doesn't," He brushed off, "the body could still be useful for my goals. And there's also the fact that it is much easier to hide a dead body than a living one. Infants are so much work anyway, and they are such a liability with their lack of self control and neediness."

Her breathe caught in her throat, but Shayera tried to exude calmness, "What's your second option?"

"I'm glad you asked." Luthor leaned forward with a gleam in his calculating eyes, "My other option is to simply have you tell me what I need to know."

"And why would I do that?" She spit.

"Well," Luthor stood once again and laughed humorlessly, "To better the chances for you and your child bluntly. You see, if you provide me with the information I need to know about what your body can or cannot handle, I can more accurately provide you and your child with the medicines she needs to survive."

"She?" Shayera's heart stopped in shock.

"Ah, you didn't know." Luthor smiled as he realized he had played a trump card without even knowing it, "Congratulations. You're having a baby girl. And every baby girl needs certain things like working lungs and to not be exposed to dangerous chemicals that could kill her, both of which you could help provide."

Her hand moved towards her abdomen and, despite the restraints, she could just barely rub the bottom of her stomach affectionately. The mound that held her little girl kicked at the touch, as if reminding her of how very strong her child was.

Shay sighed. She had to think about this very carefully. Chances were if that if Luthor were to deliver her baby right now, she would be dead within the hour and her child within a few days. However, if she helped him-if she told him everything he needed to know-she might be able to buy both of them a few extra days. She might not get out of this lab alive, but maybe she could stall just long enough for John to find them. For him to get their little girl home.

That made her decision for her. Laying her head back against the gurney in defeat, she conceded defeat, "Fine. What do you want to know?"

Luthor's eyes lit up in excitement and he motioned for one of the doctors to bring him a chair, "Let's start with everything you know about Thanagarian pregnancy and childbirth before we move on to your body's reactions to various medicines and treatments."

"This might take a while." Shayera said slowly.

"I would expect nothing else." Luthor seemed giddy anyway.

And with that, Shayera Hol entered into a deal with the devil.


	44. Chapter 44

"Bruce?" The feminine voice called out. Few people had dared to trespass upon the infirmary the past few days, knowing the solemn man would prefer to be left to his own vigil. That was how Lois found him - sitting on the edge of a chair, mask pulled back to show a face twisted in torment, eyes awake yet unfocused. Her call didn't even manage to pull his gaze from the deathly white Amazonian laying on the bed before him. The warrior's hair had fallen in dark waves over the baby blue hospital blankets, her lashes laid flat against her cheeks, not having moved since she arrived. Still, Bruce didn't look away, waiting for something - anything - to change.

"Bruce?" She repeated.

"What?" His hoarse response was the only indication that he had heard the reporter.

"We've finished the search." Lois sighed with a curt nod towards the pile of documents in her arms, "Every research facility, every warehouse, even private residences have been torn apart. There's absolutely no trace of Hawkgirl."

"You haven't looked well enough." He said briefly.

"I've done my best." She said through gritted teeth.

"Not good enough."

"Well then why don't you give it a try!" Her voice rose suddenly through the air, breaking the quiet that had otherwise only been intruded upon by the quiet beeps of machines and the drips of Diana's IV. Even after several days, the princess gave no signs of awaking, something she knew had hit the dark knight quite hard. Still, she would be damned if she coddled him like everyone else. Throwing her hands up in the air, she marched a few steps closer to the foot of the maidan's bed, "I get that this is hard for you. She's treasured and loved and all you want is to have her back, but you aren't the only one suffering here!"

"If I was capable of helping, then I would." His voice held a dark warning.

"Then get over yourself." Lois ground out, "You're doing nobody any good here. Get off your ass and give me some thoughts here. Everyone else is calling in hospitals and coordinating searches, but we both know that unless we think out this puzzle step by step we aren't going to find her in time. The people who have her are too smart. So start turning the mechanisms in your little Bat brain and answer my question. Where would they have taken Shayera?"

His dark brows ground their way into a deep frown. As he turned to examine her bright red face, Bruce's cold stare bore into her and it took every ounce of self confidence to not waver under the pressure. Still, she could see him processing the information, and, after a few moments, he turned back to Diana and murmured, "What would they need?"

"Privacy." Lois answered quickly, "Medicine, experts, equipment. But the Lotus Foundation has shipments going every direction imaginable. It would take months to sort through them all. Plus, who knows what's on records and what's not."

"Then think about the who." He shook his head regretfully.

"Luthor?" She whispered, "You think he's actually with her?"

"You know how he likes to make things personal." Bruce murmured, "You've seen things."

She shook her head, trying not to let memories bubble up and cloud her objectivity. Her breathe caught momentarily in her throat, forcing her to remain silent for a moment before brokenly whispering, "Diana might not wake up, Bruce. Why not try to save who you can? I know that's what she would have wanted you to do?"

"I need to be here if…" He trailed off, reaching for her hand instinctively. Realistically, the hero knew that nothing had changed dramatically since she had fallen ill. Her fingernails had grown only slightly longer, her skin only half a shade paler, her hair only the barest amount duller. But he could swear that she was colder, less alive than he had ever seen her. It was like he was watching her petrify before his very eyes. And the thought of not being with her every last moment until her heart stopped made him like he was just allowing her to slip away.

Lois nodded finally and whispered, "What if I bring the work to you?"

Bruce finally nodded in agreement.

It was funny the stupid little things a person found significant when something bad happened. The mobile above the baby's crib, for example. Shayera had wanted the one with animals, but John had found the one with hot air balloons more colorful and comforting. She always wanted something strong and bold, but babies craved calming and safe he had argued. They had bickered for nearly ten minutes before they finally compromised and decided to get one with stars and space ships. They had thought it made sense, considering their current living situation. Clark had ended up making it for them since he was good with his hands and wanted to give them something for the nursery. He had carved each item carefully out of wood, making each piece special not just because of what they represented, but because of how much care went into their creation. The Man of Steel had eventually ended up crafting not just the mobile, but much of the furniture in the room. Still, staring at the stars spinning slowly over the wooden cradle, John felt hopeless.

It had been nearly forty eight hours, and there was still no sign as to where Shayera and their baby had been taken. Diana was in the infirmary in a medically induced coma while J'onn and the other doctors tried to find a medicine to counteract the aggressive poison she had been exposed to. Bruce refused to leave her side, leaving the search efforts largely to Lois, Clark, J'onn, and Wally. The US Attorney General had given them as much information as he knew, but he was of little help considering how little he had seen. Masked assailants had tried to kill Diana and taken his beloved, but no one could find the first clue as to where they went. So rather than wait around the Founder's Room for someone to provide another meaningless update, John had come home to sit in self-loathing in privacy.

"John, what are you doing?" Wally asked as he leaned against the doorway. So much for privacy.

The kid was dressed in civilian clothes with his messy hair sticking up in all directions. Usually his presence would bring a smile to John's face, but he couldn't even muster up a polite response tonight. After a short look, John's silent gaze moved back to the slowly spinning array of celestial objects. Wally looked at the mobile as well, but when he couldn't notice anything of significance, he asked, "What are you thinking?"

"That I knew she would never sit back and let us run her life." John said sullenly. His brown eyes dripped with sorrow as his mind wandered back to their short time together, "Anyone who knew her could have guessed what she would do. But I saw what I wanted to see - her letting me handle everything. I wasn't paying attention to what I had been given, and because of that, it was taken away."

Wally sighed, "We'll find her, John."

"You don't know that." His eyes continued to bear into the carefully carved items.

Wally walked over slowly, placing his hand on John's shoulder and not removing it even after he felt the Lantern stiffen. The young man took a deep breath and said slowly, "She's scary when she gets mad, GL. I'm not sure anyone could keep her down for long, especially if she thinks they're a threat to that kid of yours. One way or another, we'll either find her or she'll find us."

"I was supposed to protect them." John buried his head in his hands, sighing in defeat.

"Buddy, you were doing your best. No one works harder than you." Wally promised.

"It's more than that." John admitted. He rubbed his stubbly chin with one of his hands, thinking for a moment. Finally, he whispered in a strained voice, "Do you remember a couple of weeks ago when you told me that she was freaking out? That I better get my shit together?"

"And you did." Wally stared at John even as he sat down on the carpet.

"Yeah, maybe." John sighed, "But...even after everything we went through, every bit of progress we made...I don't think I ever convinced her completely that I was one hundred percent in. I made a mistake not going after her the last time. Her guilt over the invasion overshadowed her doubts about me, and I took advantage of that." His green eyes glazed over near tears and his voice grew thick, "But I was going to make that up to her. After the baby was born, I was going to be there, make sure that she knew I was serious. Shay was always more convinced by actions than words, and as of lately, it feels like I've said a lot of words but not taken a lot of action. So I was going to win her trust back. That was my great plan."

"Still sounds like a great plan to me." Wally shrugged.

"Hard to be there for your girl and kid when there is no girl and kid." John glared.

"I'm working on that part." A female voice called from the door. Both men turned in surprise, not having heard anyone enter the apartment. It really was an impressive feat to sneak up on two of the world's most powerful heroes, but considering she lived with one, Lois guessed that gave her an advantage. Even so, she couldn't keep the smug look off of her face as she joked, "Guess you two are going to have to work on the whole 'awareness' skill."

"It's been a rough couple of days." Wally said seriously.

"I came to talk to you about that." Lois's smile left her face, "I think Bruce and I might be onto something. Could you join us in the infirmary?"

"Already there." Flash said as he sped past the reporter to retrieve his uniform.

John, sat up slowly, composing his face into an expression of determination rather than sorrow. He took a deep breath, running a hand across the smooth wood of the crib once more before he forced himself away from the piece of furniture. His stride was slow, filled with doubt and anger, but he stopped just shy of Lois's short frame and said, "Thank you."

"No problem, John." She said quietly. Because she knew that no words of assurance, no empty promises, no kind gestures or sweet remarks could cure what ailed him. The only thing that could help John Stewart was answers. Until the team could locate his family, this was how the Lantern would remain, Lois thought sadly. And if they failed, she worried that he would never recover.


	45. Chapter 45

Bruce had set up an entirely new system around Diana's bed. It hadn't been hard to talk Clark into bringing several monitors and external hard drives the Bat Cave, and Wally had brought everything else he needed from around the Watchtower. He had connected a number of computers to the wall of the room and had several of them running calculations for his and Lois's mapping system while a few of the others monitored Diana's health. The beeps of her heart rhythm entwined with the buzz of his programs and the drips of her IV to create a sickening symphony of despair and panic. His mind fought to keep up with the conflicting missions of his mind and heart. Hurry to get back to holding Diana's hand. Hurry to find Shayera before she died. Don't let their group was torn apart once more. Don't waste a second with the woman you love. He could feel his energy being drained by the quick pace of time.

The sound of footsteps began to echo through the space, making a slow crescendo before Lois, followed by Wally and John came to stand behind him. Lois was talking quickly, updating them on the progress the two of them had made overnight, although she needed Bruce to help explain on what exactly. Her expertise had more to do with following leads than it did advanced mapping software. John was the first to speak, perplexed by the strange map and colored overlapping lines before him, "What am I looking at?"

"Well," Lois began, "For the last few days, we've been looking at every corner around the world - each government which had a particular issue against Shayera, wealthy individuals connected to the Lotus Foundation, friends of Lex Luthor. Essentially, anyone who would have been able to plan or at least help create, a long term strategy to track her and abduct her. But then we started questioning the time table we were working with."

"Meaning?" Wally raised an eyebrow.

"What if it wasn't a long term plan?" Bruce answered from his seat.

The room was quiet for a moment, the only sounds the noises made by the machines running, before John's hoarse voice asked, "You think this attack was based on a random act of opportunity?"

"John." Batman rationalized without turning to meet his gaze, "Only a handful of people knew that Shayera was going to be at this place at this time. I checked the financials and backgrounds of every single one of them. None of them received any recent payments or had any motives which could possibly outweigh the intelligence briefings which she could offer them. However, if someone went to the trouble of developing technology to track the energy outbursts emitted by the teleporter.…"

"I didn't think that was possible!" John shouted.

"Neither did I!" Bruce suddenly stood so that he and John were at eye level. John's pained green eyes bore into the tortured, exhausted blue of his friend. Both in their own kinds of hell, and held together only by persistence, worry, and a bit of hope. Neither moved to harm the other, but both stared at each other, testing their resolves.

Finally, John sighed and said, "Who could do that?"

"I think we both can guess that." Bruce said darkly.

"Damn, Luthor." John ran a hand over his short hair and stepped back. Bruce glared at him, but sat back down, continuing his work in brooding silence. His long fingers danced over the keys, filling up the space with the sound of quick clicks.

"But we think we know how to find him." Lois nervously interrupted the tension between the two. She crossed her arms to keep from fidgeting with her hands and continued, "Bruce and I have been trying to figure out how they could have prepared their forces for such an attack and then got away so impossibly quick. They had to have some kind base close by - within a hundred miles for sure - which was at least mildly equipped for medical and military research. And that is most likely in some mildly secluded area where such a large facility can be hidden from the public."

"So how do we find it?" John asked in frustration. He couldn't stop his fingers or feet from tapping in anticipation.

"We're talking about dozens of people who are probably using amazingly high tech machines which would consume energy at quite a fast pace!" Lois elaborated.

"You want to track their electricity usage?" Wally asked skeptically.

"Wouldn't they be able to hide that somehow?" John worried.

"Generally yes." Lois sighed, "But if we're right - if taking her wasn't planned in advance and all of this was just a strange coincidence of fate - then they probably haven't covered their tracks as well as they otherwise would have. Batman and I have devised an algorithm which should be able to discern any major increases in electrical currents within the isolated area and backtrace it to its source. It's tedious work, and we're trying to speed it up any way we can, but we're...optimistic. We're also using Luthor's last known travels to narrow the search fields, which is helping us to cross some areas off our search altogether."

"How long until we know?" John said as he stared at the information moving across the screens.

"Maybe a few minutes, maybe a few hours. Could be a day or even more." Lois confessed. Her jaw was clenched tight in worry, but she kept her shoulders back confidently. It wasn't good news, but it was the best they had.

"And in the meantime?" John glared at her.

"GL," Wally placed a gentle hand on his shoulder, "She's telling you that we wait."

"No!" John said, "There has to be something else."

Lois sighed, "Get some rest. You'll have to be ready." She looked pointedly at the empty beds around the room, "Clark and J'onn are already organizing teams for once we have a location. There's really nothing else to be done. But I promise you - once we have a location, you'll be the first ones on the ground."

* * *

Wally used to bug Shayera all the time with his positivity. When she would have monitor duty, he would always dash into the room with a goofy grin while she moped over the sheer monotony of her job. He would lean carelessly against the keyboard of their control panel and flirt with her until eventually, she wanted to kill him more than die of boredom. After a while, though, she began to look forward to his frequent visits and the kind gestures with which nearly every one of them ended. Before he would speed of again, he would nearly alway give her some kind of snack, a smile, and a simple piece of advice. "Think positive, Shay. Something good's probably right around the corner!"

Of course, she would usually brush that phrase off while devouring whatever kind of greasy Earth food Wally had chosen for her that day. But now, on the biggest day of her life, those words were the only thing keeping her going. Think positive. _Today I'm going to be a mother._ Think positive. _John is going to find us_. Think positive. _John will be the best Dad imaginable. He'll be worth two parents._ Think positive. _Think positive._ She tried to calm her breathing despite the restraints which were biting painfully into her wrists and ankles. Shifting her weight as to relieve the screaming pain on the base of her wings, she tried to arch her back and roll her shoulders down. Nothing could really make her comfortable though. Whether that was due to remaining in the same cramped position for too long or the fact that she was probably going to die today was anyone's guess.

"We can give you something for the pain." One of the nurses offered. Her kind brown eyes pecked out from between her powder blue scrub cap and surgical mask. She was adjusting the tray of instruments which sat beside her bed, arranging the pieces for the doctors, "In your back, I mean. Your stomach should already be numbed."

Biting her pride, Shayera bit out, "That would be helpful."

The woman nodded tightly and moved to pull a vile out of the nearest cupboard. While transferring the bright orange liquid into a needle, she turned back and said plainly, "We're going to get started soon." After a moment, she felt the pinch of a needle near one shoulder, and then a few seconds later, near her other. The pain began to recede while a new panic took over her body.

"Please don't do this." She whispered for just the two of them to hear.

The woman pressed her lips together, but instead of answering her, walked back to the medicine cabinet to return the pain reliever. Shayera turned to stare up at the stark white ceiling again in defeat. Taking in a deep breath, she closed her eyes and resumed her chanting. Think positive. _Today I'm going to be a mother._ Think positive. _John is going to find us._ Think positive. _I'm going to have a baby today._


	46. Chapter 46

They had wheeled Shayera into a different room for the actual procedure. It was smaller than the other one, but filled with twice as much medical equipment. Some of the machines - the ultrasound, the heart monitor and such - she recognized, but many of them were completely alien to her. Bright white, artificial light filled the space, disorienting her more than the drugs already had. Around her, nearly a dozen people dressed in the same pastel clothes moved trays of surgical tools and handed each other charts filled with papers she imagined were about her. Slowly, the commotion began to settle down as people took their seats and a single tall man came to her side while the nurse from earlier stood on her other, gloved hands held up to prevent contamination.

"I know we met earlier to discuss your medical information, but is there anything else I need to be aware of?" The elderly doctor asked indifferently. Everything about him was cold from the arctic grey of his emotionless eyes to the slightly darker scrubs he wore of the same color. Even the brittle white hairs which stuck out from beneath the back of his cap held little life. Shayera looked down to the sharp scalpel he held just above her swollen belly, anxiety welling up in her chest. Instead of answering, she simply shook her head.

"Alright, then." He looked up at the dark haired young nurse on her other side "Hopefully this won't take long."

She nodded seriously, "I'll let him know."

"See that you do." He said stiffly, "Personally."

The woman's eyes flashed to him in surprise and then almost instantly dropped downwards towards the floor in silent acceptance. Quietly, took a step back with her shoulders set while another nurse took her place opposite the surgeon. The kind woman removed her gloves roughly and dropped them in a basket on her way out of the room. The old doctor's eyes followed the woman closely until the door clicked shut behind her, and then he turned back to Shayera and picked up a scalpel.

"What was that for?" She asked the man in annoyance.

He shrugged, "We don't like for the staff to get too attached to the pets."

It took all of her restraint to keep the shock from her face. Without another moment's pause, the old man slide the blade across Shayera's stomach, and rather than watch, she took a deep breath and looked up at the ceiling intently. Until they moved the mirrors that had been set up earlier, she couldn't see anything clearly, and she didn't want the partial images of blood and knives piercing her skin to be one of the last things she saw. The doctor spoke in medical terms to the nurse, describing his work with her foreign arteries and tissues, which he had to carefully work around. _Ironic really_ , she thought, _all the work they're going to so that I can die at the proper time._ After a few minutes the surgeon put down the scalpel and asked once again, "Is there any last minute information you would like to sure with me?"

Shayera took a deep breath and said, "You know everything I know. Just be sure not to cut into her wings which you pierce the amniotic sac. The loss of blood from such a wound would be…bad."

He nodded, and picked up the scalpel once more. She tried to ignore the cringeworthy sounds of knife slicing flesh with such precision and frequency, but it was nearly impossible. A few moments later, however, she felt a strange pulling in her core and then… a high pitched cry rang out in the room! Her eyes flew back to the doctor, who was now handing the nurse a small, dark haired baby with jet black wings. _She's beautiful_ , Shayera thought, _so beautiful._ The woman quickly wrapped a pale yellow blanket around the miniscule child and looked at the doctor with a question in her eyes. In response, the man gave a short nod, and his assistant swept the child out of the room without a word. Most of the other medical technicians followed her out.

"No!" Shayera called in a panic, shaking her restraints, "Wait!"

"Not to worry." The man said quietly, "She has instructions to keep your child safe. No harm will come to her yet."

"What are you going to do to her?" She couldn't keep the worry from her voice.

"Well," the man lifted a needle up to the light, measuring the dosage of the medication, "She'll undergo a few tests to start with, much like you did. And depending on her value after that, we'll see."

He harshly jabbed the syringe into her arm and emptied the vial. She gasped in surprise, but before she could speak again, he continued, "You don't have to worry much longer either way. This medication should help to stop your heart, and after that, we'll get started on your dissection. I'm sure that your body will provide us with valuable insight into your kind. Your daughter, though, might turn out to be even more useful."

"She's just a child!" She accused.

The man scoffed, "Your people killed plenty of our children."

A knock came from the door, and the cruel surgeon sighed heavily before setting down his tools. Holding up one finger, he walked across the room and opened the door slightly. Shayera could hear him whispering with another person, but her chest was slowly becoming heavier and heavier. It was almost like someone was sitting on her, and she had to struggle to fill her lungs. The door closed quietly, and the doctor was suddenly called, "Okay, everyone! There has been a change of plans. Please gather all of your research as quickly as possible and leave the room in an orderly fashion."

Shayera sighed in relief as the room quickly emptied. Men and women hurried to stuff papers and computers in their bags, while others simply left their work and rushed out the door empty handed. Some were attempting to carry out pieces of equipment with them, as to continue their work elsewhere, though knowing her friends that wouldn't be happening. The surgeon came back to Shayera's side for just one moment, to whisper, "No matter what, you'll be dead in five minutes. At the very least, I get to live knowing that I killed a traitor to Earth." And with that, he grabbed her chart and followed the last researcher out of the door. She was alone.

It felt like an eternity that they laid in that room.

The surgeon hadn't bothered to close the incision from her c-section; there had been no point considering that they were just going to cut her open again in a few minutes. The loss of blood combined with whatever drug she had been injected with were making her feel woozy, and she found it impossible to focus on anything, let alone time. There were sounds coming from the hallway: running, banging, the sounds of bodies hitting the floor. In the back of her mind, she felt relief, it only because she knew her friends were looking for her daughter.

"Shayera!" A shocked voice called through the fog of her mind.

She opened her eyes, not having realized that they were closed. Her head fell to the side to see Wally leaning over her, looking at horror at the blood which covered her body. His red gloved hand brushed through her hair comfortingly as he yelled, "John! We need medical help!" He turned back to her, tears in his eyes as he promised, "You're going to be okay, Shay. I swear we're going to get you out of her."

Her forehead pinched in concentration as she tried to talk back to him, but her mouth felt like it was full of cotton, and all that came out was, "E-Eh."

"Hey," He whispered, "It's okay."

"Shayera!" John said in horror. The color from his face drained away as he took in the sight of her strapped to a bed, cut open, bleeding. Wally rushed around her body, untying her restraints as John leaned down beside her. Gently, he pressed a kiss to her forehead and promised, "J'onn's on his way. Everything is going to be fine."

"Ellie." She finally whispered.

"W-What?" John stammered.

She swallowed hard and concentrated long enough to order, "F-Find. Ellie."

"I'm not leaving you." John swore, leaning his forehead against hers.

"F-Find...her." She whispered weakly.

"John." Wally interrupted as he took Shayera's hand, "I've got this. Go find her."

"I can't." John tried to argue, but Wally wasn't having any of it.

"We have to get Shay out of here, GL. She'll die otherwise. Either you go after your kid and I get her back to the Javelin or the other way around. We both know which way it has to be." Wally said as he packed her wounds the best he could. His medical training was minimal, but J'onn had taught him enough for a situation like this. When he noticed that his friend still hadn't moved, he shouted, "Go!"

John's eyes darkened with the knowledge that his friend was right. He leaned down to brush a chaste kiss against Shayera's dry lips, but she didn't even have the strength to respond. Gripping her hair tightly, he ordered against her lips, "Don't you dare die. You can't leave us now." He stepped back to look in her eyes, "I love you."

Then, he disappeared in a bright green blur of light. She savored the warm feeling emitted by his shield for just a second before Shayera sighed in contentment once he was gone knowing two things. One, John was going to get their daughter and bring her home. They would be together and her child would grow up only knowing love and happiness. John would never allow anything lesser for her. The second thing she knew was that John wasn't going to have to watch her die.


	47. Chapter 47

Her will said she didn't want to be buried. John couldn't believe that even after they got back together, after they had planned their future, after _everything_ she had still consulted a lawyer and written a will. He knew it wasn't just because of him, but it still hit him in the gut every time he thought of those words. _I don't want to rot in the ground,_ she wrote just as plainly as she would have said it. _The best possibility I can imagine is my body being burned and my ashes scattered someplace special._ She hadn't even said where, just left it up to them. It didn't really matter to her, he guessed, she had never been religious or particularly sentimental. This ceremony was for her friends, not her.

John hadn't had it in him to plan the logistics, so Wally had chosen a lake in Midway National Park for the service. He knew how she loved the place, and Wally wanted someplace that people could walk by and see something beautiful. A path at the North end of the lake lead up to an overlook which displayed the whole body of water and surrounding forests which covered hills that, in the distance, gave way to the mountains she always loved. Thick patches of snow covered the whole park making the evergreens the only color in the vast landscape. It was nice save for the reporters. Clark had said that the media needed to be there - this wasn't just their loss but the world's. But John knew that most people on the other side of the lenses wouldn't be mourning a hero, they would be celebrating the death of a criminal. It sickened him.

"John." Diana shook him from his thoughts, "It's time."

He glanced at the gathered crowd by the cliffs and shook his head, "I don't want to do this."

She sighed impatiently, "None of us want to do this, but it needs to be done."

He didn't answer.

Finally, she looped her arm through his and ordered, "We need to be together. This looks conspicuous, and that's something none of us want. Come on."

He nodded in resignation, set his shoulders back and put on his best face of indifference. The League was grieving, but that didn't mean he could completely fall apart. The world didn't know that he and Hawkgirl had been in love, had created a child together, and that was something he wanted to keep to himself. He didn't want people buying newspapers tomorrow speculating about her love life or about his daughter. John numbly allowed Diana to lead him back to the others, Flash walking behind both of them as he finally arrived.

"Sorry I'm late." He said quietly, "Got a little caught up in something."

Clark nodded in understanding, "It's getting late. We had better get started."

The six of them stood near the edge of the lookout point, the few friends that had accepted their invitations back a few yards. Much of the press was able to push up right behind them, wanting to get prime photos of the famous heroes. There was no priest to speak. John knew Shayera would have disapproved, so Clark spoke instead. All of the Founders had agreed that only he could give a speech that would truly do her justice. He had sought after redemption, and so he knew the path she followed.

"Friends," He began solemnly, "We are here today because of the bravery of one of my dearest friends. Shayera Hol, who, like me, wasn't an Earthling by birth, but came to love this planet as her very own…." For several minutes, the leader described Hawkgirl's deeds, her spirit even in the midst of battle, hell, especially in the midst of battle, and how her death would not be in vain. At the end, there was a long pause before the scattered applause ended the short service. John and the others stayed for the mandatory hand shaking as individuals came to offer their condolences, which was almost worse than the actual service.

Afterwards, the Founders asked for privacy as they walked along the snowy banks of the pond together. They didn't want the ashes in the snow, something felt to still and exposed, so they broke the ice together, each taking a turn pouring the contents of the ern in the frigid waters. As they worked, they talked quietly enough that they wouldn't be overheard by the stragglers, still talking on the cliffs or waiting for a quote on the path. J'onn went first, speaking as he slowly poured the ashed, "They'll make a memorial to be placed here in the Spring," The Martian seemed hesitant to bring up the fact, "I've seen the designs, and it's quite lovely. Just her walking, looking up at the sun, wings outstretched. Her mace hangs from her wrist."

"Where it's meant to be." Wally said with a sad smile.

"Yes." J'onn answered.

John didn't say anything, just nodded slowly.

Diana sighed, "Is it really necessary for them to take so many photos?"

Batman looked up to see one of the reporters snapping a picture of the Founders. It was a good shot, really...the six of them surrounding a small hole in the ice, some of them standing, some sitting. Flash handed the vase of ashes to Superman while Bruce answered coldly, "They're surprised she would receive the full honors. People may not want to come to the service, but they certainly want to see our reactions. It makes for good news."

Diana rolled her eyes, "They should respect our privacy. There's more to life than money."

John interrupted them, "We leave in ten minutes."

Wally, who was already facing away from the cameras, gave a small smile, "Have to get back to the baby?"

"Yeah." John said quietly.

"She seemed good when I left." He answered.

John nodded as the ern was finally passed to him. He took a deep breath and forced himself to pour the remainder of the ashes into the lake. The grey specks settled on the top of the dark water for a few moments before they began to sink down to the depths below. John couldn't take his eyes off of them as they descended; the whole day just felt so… wrong. He hated all of it. Finally, he sighed and said to Flash, "Actually, I think I'm going to take a walk before heading back."

"You sure?" Wally asked, "I know you don't like to be away."

"I'm sure." John breathed, "I can't go back like this. Need to walk it off."

"You should go hit something." Batman said with a raised eyebrow.

John chuckled just once, "I don't think it'll work the same for me." He paused before admitting, "Did you know that today was supposed to be her due date?"

Several of them shook their heads, but he noticed that J'onn's eyes darkened. John crossed his arms, struggling to find the words to express his feelings. He thought for several minutes and finally just said, "It just doesn't feel right to spend the day this way. We were supposed to be happy, or the very least impatient. But I never expected this."

Diana nodded in understanding. She reached out to offer an affectionate squeeze of the shoulder and asked, "Do you want one of us to come with you?"

"No." He said quickly, "I want to be alone."

"Don't be too long." Wally warned before adding, "I'll go check on the baby."

John nodded numbly, "Thanks."

Wally gave him a quick squeeze of the shoulder before he walked off into the snowy forest. The speedster wanted to go with his friend, but even he knew that there was simply nothing he could do to make John Stewart feel any better. There was nothing anyone there could do.


	48. Chapter 48

Several hours later, John returned to the apartment on the Watchtower. He dropped his coat on the hook by the door and looked around at how much the place had changed in just a few days. The kitchen, which had always been pristine - either because Shayera never used it or because he always cleaned it after cooking - had several empty bottles in the sink and a pile of rags on the counter. The living room was covered in pastel blankets and carriers of different kinds - strollers, car seats, everything - whereas it generally was near empty save whatever gear Shayera had collected from around the Tower. Even the walls, which had been plain until recently, were covered in photos of Ellie, John, and Shayera.

"I thought I heard you come in." Shayera called as she came in from down the hall. Ellie was laid against her chest, dark lashes against her plump cheeks and fists holding her mother's hair. Her yellow onesie stood out against her mother's maroon long sleeved shirt over rolled up sweatpants. Her shirt ruffled slightly over the bandages that covered her abdomen, but still, she had never looked more amazing. Shayera smiled when she caught him eyeing her and walked over to give him a brief kiss. Keeping her face close to his, she whispered, "Wally said you needed some time?"

"Yeah." He said roughly, "Today was a lot harder than I thought it was going to be."

She nodded and responded with, "Take the baby."

He took her without question, careful to jostle her as little as possible while moving her from Shayera's chest to his own. His girlfriend helped to pry their daughters little fists from her red locks as he held her in the air. Without opening her eyes, Ellie let out a small, pouting sound at the loss of her mother's warmth and flailed her tiny wings before John laid her against his chest, allowing her to snuggle against his neck. As soon as she let go of her baby, Shayera slipped her arms around John's back, holding herself to the other side of his chest. John used his free arm to clutch her to him and leaned down just enough to press a kiss to her hair. He could feel her smile as she reminded him, "I'm right here. I'm okay."

"You almost weren't." He said seriously.

She looked up at him, "Don't think like that."

He sighed, "Shayera, I literally just went to your funeral. I can't _not_ think like that."

She stepped back and put a hand on her hip, "You know that this was the best option we had. It gets the alien bounty hunters off of Earth, stops any of Luthor's men from coming after us again, and hopefully protects Ellie from any other probing eyes. If people thought that Hawkgirl was alive, no one would ever stop coming after us, whether from the Thanagarian or Earthen side."

"I know." He said sadly, "It's worth it to keep you safe."

She shook her head as she gently stroked Ellie's dark hair, which curled just slightly at the base of her neck. It was strange, she'd never imagined she could love anyone the way she loved her daughter, and for some reason, she had never expected it would be so all consuming. Leaning forward to kiss the baby's soft locks, she whispered, "It's not me that I'm worried about."

" _I'm_ worried about you." He growled.

She narrowed her eyes and asked, "Really, Lantern? You want me to drag you all the way to the third moon of Galtos this soon after giving birth just to prove to you I can still break a few bones?"

He chuckled a little bit and said, "Oh, there's no doubt in my mind that you could." His face grew serious and he continued, "It's just that… Elle and I need you. I couldn't imagine doing all this without you."

"Then don't." She shrugged.

"That's your grand plan?" He asked with a hint of sarcasm, "Live in denial?"

She raised an eyebrow, "If it works."

He smiled, "We're going to have some long talks tomorrow."

"Mmh." She sighed, "How was Diana?"

"You know her." John shook his head, "She tried to tough it out, act like she wasn't still recovering. I caught her hands shaking a couple of times while Clark was speaking, but she tried to hide it. I don't know why, none of us would judge her considering the length of her coma let alone the experimental antidote. We were lucky that J'onn was able to reverse engineer treatment for the poison which affected her, but there's no telling how long it will take for her body to get back to its original health or if there will be any side effects. I mean, medicine which could affect an immortal like that? It's got to be potent stuff. But she refuses to let anyone treat her like she's anything other than 100%."

Shayera frowned, "I understand her frustration."

John stroked her back up to the place where her wings met her back. Her eyes closed in bliss as he rubbed the tender muscles and asked, "Your incision still hurts?"

"Not as much as it did." She hated to admit.

"You've got to take it easy." He admonished, "And take your pain pills."

She leaned back to look at him with a raised eyebrow, "If I take it any easier I'll die of boredom. Plus, the pills make it so hard to concentrate. I hate that feeling."

He sighed, "At least for now?"

She smiled at him for a long while instead of answering and then finally asked, "So, now what?"

"Well," he sighed as he sat down on a stool in their kitchen, "Batman and Clark talked with the U.S. President and Attorney General and they agreed to continue your deal, assuming you still provide intelligence briefings. They don't necessarily want the world knowing you're alive and that they helped fake your death, so they will only be sharing information they see pertinent with other countries. Otherwise, you're free to do whatever you want. We could keep living here, or I'm sure you would be able to obtain an identity on Earth. We could get a house, live a quiet life for a little while." He grinned at her, "I'm not sure you could handle it for too long."

She sat next to him and asked, "What do you want?"

He shrugged, "I'm happy as long as you're happy."

After thinking for several minutes, she admitted, "I'm not ready to quit doing this...the hero thing, I mean."

John narrowed in eyes hearing the unspoken word, "But?"

"But," She smiled at his knowing, "It has to be different this time. I want to get back to training and fighting more than almost anything. It feels like I haven't been myself in so long, and I miss the action. But it's also been a really long year." She looked at the little girl in his arms, "I need some time for this part of my life before I go back to that part of my life."

He rubbed her back and whispered, "Our little Elowyn Rose."

"Mmh." She sighed, "We should get a place in the mountains somewhere. A place where she can fly someday without worries." She looked at him pointedly, "Before you say no, you're always the one who's saying that we all need more fresh air. We could get plenty of extra room so everyone can visit. I mean, Wally would probably never leave, but that's always going to be a given. And…"

She noticed John staring at her, "What?"

He beamed at her and noted, "You didn't even fight about moving in with me this time."

She glared at him, "We already live together, John. Going from a house to an apartment is not that big of a leap."

He shrugged, "Still an improvement over last time."

She shook her head, "Whatever. In a couple of months I'll start training again. I'll have to come up with a new look, maybe try to disguise my wings somehow. Do you think Bruce will help me?"

"As long as you don't destroy his and Diana's house again."

She smiled, "I can't believe that either."

"They got really luck." John grinned, "But we did too."

"Yeah." Shayera said as she looked at the man she loved through the dim kitchen lights. It still shocked her that her life had changed so dramatically. In the course of just the last few months, she had gone from traitor on the run to a rather content mother. And, if the ring John was hiding in his dresser was any indication, soon she would be a wife as well. That, however, was her little secret for now. John deserved many things, and one of them was to think that she would be surprised by whatever absurdly romantic proposal he had planned. To be honest, she would probably hate it, but he was right - as long as he was happy, she was happy. She laughed gently as she concluded, "We really did."


End file.
